Hate crime against MuslimsMuslim communities across the OSCE region are the victims of rhetoric that...
Transcript of Hate crime against MuslimsMuslim communities across the OSCE region are the victims of rhetoric that...
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Hate crime against Muslims
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What is hate crime?
Criminal Offence+ Bias Motivation= Hate Crime
• Hatecrimescomprisetwoelements:acriminaloffenceandabiasmotivation.Hatecrimesrequireabaseoffencetohaveoccurred.Inotherwords,theactcommittedmustconstituteacriminaloffenceundernationallaw.Ifthereisnounderlyingcrime,thereisnohatecrime.
• Thesecondelementofahatecrimeisthattheperpetratormustcommitthecriminalactwithaparticularmotive,basedona“bias”.Thepresenceofabiasmotiveiswhatdifferentiateshatecrimesfromordinarycrimes.
• Ahatecrimehastakenplacewhenaperpetratorhasintentionallytargetedanindividualorpropertybecauseofaprotectedcharacteristic,orexpressedhostilitytowardsthevictim’sprotectedcharacteristicduringthecrime.
Hatecrimessendamessageofexclusiontovictimsandtheircommunities.Thesecrimesrequireastrongresponse.
What are anti-Muslim hate crimes?
Anti-Muslimhatecrimesoftenhaveuniquecharacteristicsthatdifferentiatethemfromothertypesofhatecrimes.Thesehatecrimestargetpeopleorpropertyassociated,orperceivedtobeassociatedwithMuslims.Suchanti-MuslimhatecrimestakeplaceacrosstheOSCEregion.
Thesecrimesare,however,under-reported,foranumberofreasons.Recognizingthemagnitudeandnatureoftheproblemisthefirststeptowardseffectivelycounteringit.
Since2002,OSCEparticipatingStateshaveexplicitlycondemnedactsofdiscriminationandviolenceagainstMuslimsandfirmlyrejectedtheidentificationofterrorismandextremismwithanyreligionorculture.
MuslimcommunitiesacrosstheOSCE
regionarethevictimsofrhetoricthat
oftenassociatesthemwithterrorism
andextremism,orportraysthe
presenceofMuslimcommunitiesas
athreattonationalidentity.Muslims
areoftenportrayedasamonolithic
group,whosereligionandculture
areincompatiblewiththeconcepts
ofhumanrightsanddemocracy.
Thisintolerance,leftunchecked,can
enableaclimatethatfostershate
crimeagainstMuslims,whichisan
attempttoisolatethemfromsociety.
Onlyastrongresponsefromallactors
insocietycaneffectivelychallenge
discrimination,intoleranceandhate
crimesagainstMuslims.
Anti-Muslim hate crime
ParticipantsinaconferenceoncounteringintoleranceanddiscriminationagainstMuslimsheldinViennaon18October2017.Theeventwasco-organizedbytheOSCEOfficeforDemocraticInstitutionsandHumanRightsandGeorgetownUniversity.(OSCE/SalkoAgovic)
ParticipantsatacoalitionbuildingeventhostedbyODIHRandthe EuropeanParliamentAnti-RacismandDiversityIntergroup(ARDI),16and17June2016(OSCE/MichaelChia)
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The2010AstanaDeclarationstressedthatinternationaldevelopmentsandpoliticalissuescannotjustifyanyformofintoleranceordiscriminationagainstMuslims,andencouragedparticipatingStatestochallengeanti-Muslimprejudiceandstereotypes.
ThenumberofhatecrimesagainstMuslimsreportedtoODIHRincreasesfollowingterroristattacksandontheanniversariesofsuchattacks.AttacksagainstpropertytendtooccuraroundFridayprayersandreligiousholidays,andoftenincludewritinggraffitiorleavingtheremainsofpigsoutsidemosques,communitycentresandMuslimfamilies’homes.Therearealsonumerousreportedincidentsinwhich,forexample,womenwearingheadscarvesarethevictimsofassault.
How to recognize hate crimes against Muslims?
ThereareanumberofindicatorsthatidentifybiasagainstMuslimsinacrime.Itisveryimportanttoproperlyidentifybiasindicatorsforhatecrimes,astheycanhelpauthoritiesdecidewhetherthecaseshouldbeinvestigatedasapossibleanti-Muslimhatecrime.
Examplesofquestionstohelpidentifyanti-Muslimhatecrimesare:
• DothevictimsorwitnessesperceivetheincidenttohavebeenmotivatedbybiastowardsMuslimsorIslam?
•Weretherecomments,writtenstatements,gesturesorgraffitithatindicatebias?ExamplesofthisincludeequatingMuslimswithterrorism,usingimagesandlanguagerelatingtotheCrusades,orsymbolspromotingtheprotectionoftheperpetrator’sreligionorcountry,suchasnationalflagsorcrosses.
•Wasthetargetaplaceofreligiousorculturalsignificance,suchasamosque,Muslimcemeteryorschool?
•Wasthetargetadifferentproperty,suchasashop,housingassociationbuildingassociatedwithMuslims,asiteselectedfortheconstructionofamosqueoranIslamicculturalcentre?
•Wasthepropertypreviouslytargetedinananti-Muslimincident?
•Whatwasthenatureoftheattackagainstproperty?WasanobjectperceivedtobeoffensivetoMuslims,suchasporkfleshorblood,leftatthescene?Orwasareligiouslyimportantitem,
suchasacopyoftheKoran,desecrated?
•Whatwasthenatureoftheviolence?WeresymbolsrepresentingIslamtargeted?Forexamplewasaheadscarfremovedfromawoman’sheadoraMuslimman’sbeardshaved?
• DoesthesuspectbelongtoahategroupthattargetsMuslims?Thesecouldincludedifferentfar-rightgroups,groupsadvocatingagainstMuslims,orotherreligiousgroups.Doesthesuspect’sbackgroundorcriminalrecordshowthatheorshehascommittedsimilarincidentsinthepast?
•WasthevictimvisiblyidentifiableasaMuslim,forexample,awomanwearingaheadscarf,amanwithabeard,apersonwearinglongclothingorwearingArabiclanguageinscriptionsonclothingorjewellery,orapersonwithaMuslimsoundingname?WasthevictimwronglyperceivedtobeaMuslimduetotheirattire(e.g.,Jewishwomenwearingheadscarves,Sikhmenwearingturbans?
•WasthevictimaMuslimcommunityleaderorahumanrightsdefenderdealingwiththeprotectionandsafetyofMuslims?
• Didtheincidenttakeplaceinthedaysfollowingaterrorist
attack,ontheanniversaryofsuchanattackoronsomeotherdateofsignificanceforeithertheperpetratororMuslimcommunities?DidtheincidenttakeplaceonaMuslimholidayorinthecourseofapoliticalcampaign?
• Isthereanyotherclearmotive?Lackofothermotivesisalsoareasontoconsiderbiasmotivation.
Anti-Muslimhatecrimeshouldbemonitoredasaseparatecategoryofcrime,enablingatailoredresponsetothephenomenon.HatecrimedatashouldberecordedinamannerthatallowsfordisaggregationofhatecrimedatabygendertoshowhowhatecrimesaffectMuslimmenandwomendifferently.Inmanyexistingofficialstatistics,anti-Muslimhatecrimesarebroadlycategorizedasanti-religioushatecrimesorconflatedwithanti-Araboranti-migranthatecrimes.Sometimesthisisbecauseoffendersexpressmorethanonebiasintheseattacks.
Reporting hate crime against Muslims
HatecrimesagainstMuslimsareunder-reported.Thereareahostofchallengesassociatedwithreportingthesetypeofhateincidents,notablythevictims’potentialisolationorproximitytotheperpetrator.Victimsmayalsolacktrustintheauthorities,
Examples of Hate Crime against Muslims
1) Sixworshipperswerekilledand19injuredwhenanarmedperpetratorenteredamosqueduringprayersandfiredatworshipers.Theperpetratorhadshownsympathytowardsfar-right,anti-Muslimandwhitesupremacistmovements.
2) AmosquewasthetargetofanarsonattackinwhichsevenMolotovcocktailswerethrownatthebuilding.
3) Awomanwearingaheadscarfwasinsulted,toldto“gobacktohercountry”andphysicallyassaulted.Theperpetratorbrokeoneofherfingersandrippedoffherheadscarf.
4) Pigs’headsandjarsfilledwithbloodwereleftonamosqueconstructionsite.Thesamesitehadalreadybeenvandalizedafewweeksbefore.
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More information:
Fordetailedinformationabout
ODIHR’shatecrimeinitiativesand
toviewitsfullrangeofresources
andpublications,pleasevisit:
www.osce.org/odihr/tolerance
OSCE Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights
ul.Miodowa10
00-251Warsaw
Poland
Tel.:+48225200600
Fax:+48225200605
E-mail:[email protected]
duetofearsthattheirclaimwillnotbetakenseriouslyorthattheywillbevictimizedagainbypoliceofficers.
AccesstojusticeforvictimsremainsacriticalchallengeandonethatparticipatingStatesneedtoovercome.Governmentshaveacentralroletoplayinensuringaccesstojustice;fromtheinitialassessmentofvictims’needsbypoliceofficers,tosupportmechanismsforvictimsthroughgovernmentalornon-governmentalinstitutions.
ParticipatingStatescanonlydevelopeffectivepoliceresponsestocounterthesecrimesiftheyareabletocollectreliabledataonthem.Increasedawarenessofhatecrime,reportingofitbyvictimsandrecordingofitby
stateswillhelprevealthefullmagnitudeoftheproblemandenablepolicy-makerstoidentifyappropriateresponses.Muslimcivilsocietygroupsaredevelopingtheirmonitoringcapacitythroughoutreachandonlinereporting,inrecognitionoftheimportanceofhatecrimemonitoringasanimportantadvocacytool.Under-reportingofanti-MuslimhatecrimehasasignificanteffectonhatecrimefiguresreportedtoODIHR.
ODIHRhasbeencollectingandpublishingdataonhatecrimesagainstMuslimssince2006.FindoutmoreaboutthesecrimesandhowtoreportthemtoODIHRathatecrime.osce.org.
What can you do?
OmbudsinstitutionsaddressingdiscriminationandlocalassociationsworkingwithMuslimcommunitiesplayacentralroleincounteringhatecrimesbecausetheyserveasavitallinkbetweenvictims,communitiesandlocalauthorities.Contactyourlocalsupportassociationorombudsinstitutiontofindoutmoreaboutanti-Muslimhatecrimes:
• Contacttheequalitybodyclosesttoyou.Youcanfindanon-exhaustivelisthere:http://www.equineteurope.org/
• TheInternationalOmbudsmanInstitute(IOI):www.theioi.org
• TheEuropeanNetworkofNationalHumanRightsInstitutions(ENHRI):http://ennhri.org/
ODIHR guides on hate crime
ODIHRhascompiledgoodpracticesfromOSCEparticipatingStatesforaddressinghatecrimeandhassharedtheseinanumberofpublications.Thesepublicationsareavailableonourwebsiteat:http://www.osce.org/odihr/124602
VisitODIHR’sdedicatedhatecrimereportingwebsiteat:www.hatecrime.osce.org