Hate crime against Muslims

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)

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.

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:tndinfo@odihr.pl

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