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




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Project news

The project started 2021 with a variety of national and regional activities. At national level, the project has kicked off three systemic mapping studies in Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine

on national responses to hate speech. In Armenia, the project has organised a training course on hate speech, awareness raising sessions and will carry out training courses for judges and prosecutors on hate speech. In Azerbaijan, the project continues its support to the NGO Equality Platform and is advising the Ombudsoffice on strengthening its mandate in the field of non-discrimination. In the Republic of Moldova, the project is carrying out two training for trainers, for Police on equality and for police, prosecutors and judges on hate crime. At the same time, the project provides assistance on awareness raising on hate speech and to the Audiovisual Council through a specific guide on this. In Ukraine, the project is carrying out a training of trainers for the Legal Aid Coordination Centre and it is developing a booklet for the Ombudsoffice on the obligations of public authorities on non-discrimination. In Moldova, Armenia and Ukraine, the project supports inter-agency efforts for combating discrimination and hate crime through disaggregated data collection.

Join our peer discussions on equality in the Eastern Partnership

Join our peer discussions on equality in the Eastern Partnership, to get inspired and learn from good practices!

Next sessions:
- 14 April 2021, 14:00 CET: Liability for discrimination and their effectiveness (civil, administrative, criminal) and litigation of discrimination issues; how shifting the burden of proof works in practice
- 26 April 2021, 14:00 CET: Effective ways to combat stereotypes (including stereotypes about LGBT people)
- 13 May 2021, 14:00 CET: Victim support services for victims of hate speech / hate crimes and making hate crime investigation more victim-centred
Register for the next discussions at this link. The sessions are organised with simultaneous interpretation English – Russian.

Speak peace! New Council of Europe booklet about hate speech

"Speak peace! Hate speech is not an option!" explores the concept of hate speech, its manifestations, its risks for

human rights and democracies, and provides advice and proposals for actions to prevent and fight hate speech. This booklet was developed to support youth mobilisation and civil society activism in the context of the joint programmes of the European Union and the Council of Europe Partnership for Good Governance and the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey.

Support for civil society in the Eastern Partnership: five projects supported through grants

From February to July 2021, our project is supporting five national projects by civil

society organisations in Armenia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine aimed at combating discrimination:

Armenia: training course and awareness raising activities on hate speech

The training course “Combating hate speech through human rights education” brought together 10 teachers and 10 youth workers from schools and NGOs of all the

regions of Armenia. Many follow-up activities were organised by participants themselves starting from early March. In April and May, online awareness raising sessions are organised in Armenian and open for participation of everyone interested; - 14 April 2021, Hate speech on the grounds of religion and belief
- 28 April 2021, Hate speech targeting people with fewer opportunities and disabled people
- 7 May 2021, Combating hate speech using counter and alternative narratives
- 10 May 2021, Actions to combat hate speech through educational activities
- 15 May 2021, Closing event with keynote speakers.

Follow the sessions here ›


Azerbaijan: the NGO Equality Platform awareness raising plans

The Equality Platform in Azerbaijan is an informal network of NGOs and individuals supporting equality and the protection against discrimination. The Platform has now its Facebook page and as of April will carry out several awareness raising activities to promote equality in Azerbaijan. Like the page in order to be updated on the upcoming activities.

Georgia: first joint report on data collection on hate crime

On 18 March 2021, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the

National Statistics Office of Georgia, with the support of the Council of Europe, published the first joint data collection report on hate crime, based on the previously signed memorandum of co-operation. The memorandum on co-operation on data collection on hate crimes and disaggregated data in Georgian and English are publicly available to all interested parties on the website of the National Statistics Office of Georgia. This process is supported by the Council of Europe co-operation Project “Fight against Discrimination, Hate Crimes and Hate Speech in Georgia”. The project is implemented under the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Georgia 2020-2023 with the support of the Danish Neighbourhood Programme in Georgia (DANEP).


Ukraine: new national strategy on human rights

On 24 March, through the decree of the President of Ukraine, a new national strategy on human rights was approved. The strategy will serve as a basis for further coordinated activities of state bodies, local authorities and civil society institutions in ensuring human rights in Ukraine. The strategy has 27 strategic areas that cover a wide range of human rights issues, for example ensuring freedom of thought and speech, expression and belief, prevention and combating of discrimination and ensuring the rights of national minorities. Every 3 years, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine will approve the Action Plan for the implementation of the National Strategy, and the execution will be monitored and evaluated by an Interdepartmental Working Group.

Republic of Moldova: the report of the Equality Council and awareness raising campaign on discrimination

The Equality Council has published its annual 2020 report on prevention and fighting discrimination. It also launched on 1 March an awareness raising campaign on social media: ZERO Discrimination,

with online seminars, online questionnaires, sharing some cases from the experience of the Council on dealing with discrimination.

Council of Europe HELP courses on hate crime and hate speech now available!

Online courses on Hate crime and Hate Speech are now available on the HELP online platform. These courses aim to enhance the necessary knowledge and skills of legal (and other) professionals in understanding the impact of hate crime and hate speech on victims, communities and society and identifying effective responses. Anyone interested in these topics can now follow the courses.

Georgia: Public Defender’s Office special report on gender mainstreaming

The Public Defender’s special report on gender mainstreaming was released on 7 March 2021. The report is the first of its kind to assess Georgia’s progress towards implementing its gender mainstreaming commitments and puts forward a set of recommendations for the Government of Georgia on institutionalizing gender mainstreaming in the governance system at all levels.


Ukraine: new report on the situation of LGBT people in Ukraine published by Nash Mir

The NGO Nash Mir published in February 2021 the report “Community online. LGBT situation in Ukraine in 2020”, which presents information that reflects the social, legal and political situation of the LGBT people in Ukraine in 2020. It contains data and analyses of the issues related to LGBT rights and interests in legislation, public and political life, and public opinion, and provides examples of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Republic of Moldova: PROMO-LEX NGO and its report on hate speech and incitement to discrimination in relation to the elections in 2020

PROMO-LEX is one of the most active NGOs in the Republic of Moldova on monitoring hate speech. Earlier in 2021, they published a report on hate speech and incitement to discrimination in relation to the presidential elections from November 2020. Besides the specific findings, the report is a

useful source of inspiration for all those involved in monitoring hate speech.

ECRI 2020 annual report published in March 2021

The Council of Europe’s anti-racism commission (ECRI) in its 2020 annual report published ahead of the International Day against Racial

Discrimination on 21 March, identified four key challenges Europe was facing last year. These are: mitigating the disproportional impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on vulnerable groups, tackling deep-rooted racism in public life, combating anti-Muslim racism and antisemitism in the face of terrorism, and addressing the backlash against the protection of human rights of LGBTI people.

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The 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 II.
This newsletter has been produced as part of a project co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of either party.

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