Tolerance and Diversity Institute

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TDI
Nov/1916

OSCE/ODIHR Published Annual Hate Crime Database

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) published annual hate crime database for 2018. ODIHR’s hate crime database is the largest of its kind worldwide. It is updated each year with information from both official and civil society sources and includes data on hate crime legislation, recording, prosecution and sentencing, as well as best practices from throughout the region.

The database includes information about hate crimes in Georgia

Hate crimes recorded by police: 344 crimes in 2018 (86 in 2017, 42 in 2016, 22 in 2015, 19 in 2014); 

Prosecuted: 151 individuals in 2018 (44 in 2017, 42 in 2016, 5 in 2015, 7 in 2014); 

Sentenced: 58 people in 2018 (11 in 2017, 15 in 2016, 5 in 2015, 8 in 2014). 

In addition to the State data, civil society informed ODIHR about 66 hate crime incidents: 

3 cases of racism and xenophobia 

1 case of Anti-Semitism (Vitaly Safarov’s murder);

28 crimes committed with the bias against Christians (all 28 incidents are committed against Jehovah’s Witnesses in Georgia);

35 committed on the ground of sexual orientation and gender identity .

 

Marking the International Day for Tolerance on 16 November with the publication of its annual hate crime dataset, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) urges countries to implement hate crime legislation that has existed on their law books for many years. “Legislation that remains without any practical application is of no more value than the paper it’s printed on,” said ODIHR Director Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir. “We must be clear that bias-motivated crime is not a phenomenon that affects minority communities only, but on the contrary is a direct attack on our democracies and the human rights principles on which they are based.”