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1.4 Summary/Conclusions
The figures on recent incidents of right-wing and related violence provided in the first part of the chapter point to the relevance of the problem of hate crime and hate speech in both countries. According to NGO reports, the groups mostly affected by hate crimes in Poland are ethnic minorities, such as members of the Roma community; gay people, alternative youth, and activists of anti-racist/progressive social movements. Demonstrations of anti-Semitism—such as the desecration of Jewish sites—and incidents of anti-Semitic hate speech are also reported to be quite common. In Germany, refugees, migrants and non-ethnic Germans undoubtedly belong to the most vulnerable groups targeted by racists, skinheads and other right-wingers; openly anti- Semitic manifestations and incidents have been also on the rise since the 1990s. Similar to Poland, political activists and left-leaning young people are also frequently the target of physical attacks carried out by far-right extremists.
International organizations have raised a number of concerns about the weaknesses of hate crime policies in both countries. Their criticism is mainly concentrated on the responses of law enforcement agencies, which are considered a crucial element in the combat of right-wing extremism, homophobia and racism. In Poland open hostility towards the LGBT community and anti-Semitic attitudes could gain ground at the highest political level, as has been highlighted by numerous incidents. Previous Polish governments, under the influence of far-right politicians, have obviously stalled the programs and legislation in place that attempt to counteract hate crimes and protect the rights of minority groups, whereas the German authorities have been credited for having stepped up their efforts for having taken more pro-active measures over the years. However, comparing the amount and severity of hate crimes in different countries is a difficult, if not impossible, task as various supranational bodies have emphasized. This is mainly due to different national monitoring and registration systems and other factors such as differences in public and official recognition of the problem.
Government programs providing financial support for NGOs active in the field of monitoring right-wing violence and assisting victims were first introduced in Germany in 2001 following a new wave of particularly severe anti-Semitic and racist incidents. The federal CIVITAS program (2001-2006) allowed for the creation of specialized hate crime victim support organizations, but only in the eastern parts of the country. To this date, no comparable programs have been launched in Poland, where the precise assessment of public policies is made difficult by the general lack of publicly accessible information concerning government and law enforcement activities against right-wing violence and hate groups.
(OPP)
