Combating discrimination, hate crime and hate speech in the Eastern Partnership




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Latest project news

Welcome to our first 2020 newsletter! This newsletter is part of the regional project “Strengthening access to justice for victims of discrimination, hate crime and hate speech”, financed by the European Union and the Council

of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in their Partnership for Good Governance phase II.
Like many of you, our project team is now teleworking and we are moving activities online whenever possible.
National reports and international recommendations on the data collection procedures on discrimination, hate crime and hate speech were presented in Armenia (6 February 2020) and Ukraine (3 March 2020). A similar presentation will be organised in the Republic of Moldova in the coming period. A training seminar in Azerbaijan on the practical application of European standards on anti-discrimination and equality was organised in January 2020. The project plans for 2020 include, among many other activities: training activities, peer exchanges among equality bodies and NGOs from the region, support to legislative developments in the Eastern Partnership, grants to support access to redress for victims and a regional meeting on data collection.

Georgia: Chapter 15 “Establishment of the equality policy and combating discrimination” adopted

In accordance with the Resolution N182 of the Government of Georgia of 17 April 2018, the Government Action Plan on Human Rights Protection 2018-2020 was approved with a commitment that the Chapter 15 of the Action Plan would be adopted by the end of 2018. The commitment was not upheld, which was a subject of significant criticism by local and international organizations. As a result of intense cooperation between state agencies, the Public Defender’s Office, and civic organizations, such as Equality Now, Tbilisi Pride, WISG, EMC, In accordance with the Resolution N182 of the Government of Georgia of 17 April 2018, the Government Action Plan on Human Rights Protection 2018-2020 was approved with a commitment that the Chapter 15 of the Action Plan would be and others, Chapter 15 was adopted in February 2020. Chapter 15 of the Action Plan includes three goals and aims to combat hate-motivated crimes; to raise awareness on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) and to improve SOGI-specific social and healthcare services.

Republic of Moldova: important recent decision by the Equality Council

In the Republic of Moldova, the Equality Council took a decision regarding a case of harassment behaviour by the chief of a police inspectorate involving a subordinate. The Equality Council examined the case after receiving a complaint on the issue mentioned above.

The Equality Council found a case of discrimination on the marital status and sex grounds in the field of work, and it issued several decisions, including asking the chief of the police inspectorate to stop the behaviour and to ask for apologies, but also proposing a sanction. The Equality Council prepared a report on the contravention, which it sent to the Court for applying the proposed sanction. The Court confirmed a fine of 10.000 lei and the deprivation of the right to hold office for 6 months within the General Police Inspectorate of the Republic of Moldova and its subdivisions.

Ukraine: Human rights of LGBTIQ women

In recent years, Ukraine has seen an increased public awareness to condemn violence and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people (LGBTIQ) and a rising demand to respect human rights free from limitations on any grounds. In this context, UN Women in collaboration with the Ukrainian LGBTIQ NGO Insight

prepared a publication providing an overview of the UN and national human rights instruments on the rights of LBTIQ women and a summary of the situation with respect to their rights in Ukraine.


New Council of Europe Steering Committee on Anti-Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe set up a new inter-governmental Steering Committee on Anti-Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion (CD-ADI), with representatives from the 47 member states. The CD-ADI advises the Committee of Ministers on all questions within its mandate, including preventing and combating hate speech and discrimination on the grounds covered by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, with a particular focus on fighting anti-Gypsyism and improving the active participation and inclusion of Roma and Travellers in society; safeguarding the rights of persons belonging to national minorities and the use of regional or minority languages, and promoting intercultural integration. Three substructures were also set-up: ADI-ROM: Committee of Experts on Roma and Traveller issue which will oversee the implementation of the CoE Strategic Action Plan for Roma and Traveller Inclusion (2020‑2025) ; ADI/MSI-DIS: Committee of Experts on Combatting Hate Speech set to draft a recommendation by the Committee of Ministers on a comprehensive approach to addressing hate speech within a human rights framework; and the GT-ADI-INT, an intergovernmental working group tasked to promote and review the implementation of Recommendation CM/Rec(2015)1 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on intercultural integration and follow and support the work of the Intercultural Cities Networks and facilitate multi-level co-operation in the field of intercultural integration, notably as regards migrants.

ECRI 2019 annual report

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) recently published its 2019 report. Some of the main threats to equality are analysed, such as xenophobic populism, racism in sports, anti-Black racism, Antisemitism,

discrimination against LGBTI people, discrimination against Roma and Travellers, and Islamophobia. The report makes a case for the role of civil society and of equality bodies in advancing the equality agenda. A specific section is dedicated to Artificial Intelligence and its links to discrimination.

A new methodology on mapping national responses to hate speech

The No Hate Speech and Co-operation Unit of the Council of Europe is using a new methodology known as ‘systematic

analysis’ to map national responses to hate speech. This mapping has been carried out in Spain and will shortly begin in the Republic of Moldova. In participative workshops stakeholders analyse how members of society are impacted by hate speech and what redress is available to them in their country. This process maps the interaction between individuals and institutions, public bodies, NGO’s, and the private sector throughout the process of addressing hate speech. This analysis is not restricted to legal redress but covers all possible responses as outlined in ECRI GPR no 15, for example, self-regulatory procedures, public condemnation, victim support and educational responses. By breaking a system down into its component pieces and studying how those component parts work and interact, the analysis can help identifying gaps, challenges and hopefully propose new actions and tools appropriate to the national context to prevent and combat hate speech.

8 April: International Roma Day

8 April is the International Roma Day, a day to celebrate Romani culture and raise awareness of the issues Roma people face in their daily life.

Learn more about the history of Roma people with the Council of Europe’s Roma History Factsheets. Are you involved in combating antigypsyism and discrimination that Roma people face through education? Have a look at Mirrors: Manual on combating antigypsyism through human rights education. The manual contains essential information and methodological tools to address antigypsyism involving young people of all ages and in any social-cultural setting.