A/HRC/50/61
part of society; and Government Decree No. 1039/2019, which promoted the application of
the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
23.
The Government also provided information about the establishment of institutional
structures, including the Action and Protection League of Europe, to monitor and address
antisemitic hate speech and hate crime. The Government also signalled its zero-tolerance
policy towards antisemitism, the introduction in 2011 of mandatory Holocaust education in
the national curriculum and the importance placed upon International Holocaust
Remembrance Day in the country.
24.
According to the information provided in respect of the prevalence of antisemitic hate
crime and hate speech, in 2020 the Action and Protection League recorded 30 antisemitic
incidents. One was categorized as a threat, 6 as vandalism and 22 as hate speech. During the
period 2013−2020 there was an overall decrease in the number of antisemitic incidents.
Latvia
25.
Latvia reported that the threat posed by right-wing extremism in the country generally
remained low but that trends in the use of the Internet to disseminate related ideologies were
of concern. The Government provided information about the legal framework in place to
enshrine equality and non-discrimination, including constitutional provisions on equality and
non-discrimination, and non-discrimination provisions in laws governing the labour market,
health care, child protection, economic activities, education and criminal proceedings. In
addition, the Government detailed laws in place to address hate speech and incitement to
violence, including constitutional provisions stipulating that persons belonging to national
minorities had the right to preserve and develop their language and ethnic and cultural
identity, as well as provisions in the Criminal Law that criminalize relevant offences, such as
violating the prohibition of discrimination, genocide, crimes against humanity, incitement to
hatred and the triggering of hatred. Latvia also provided information about steps taken to
strengthen its non-discrimination legal framework. For example, in 2021, the Criminal Law
was amended to ensure that hatred on the basis of race, ethnicity and a range of other
characteristics was an aggravating factor in all crimes.
26.
The Government described a decree, adopted by the Ministry of the Interior, which
established a working group to address procedural problems encountered when addressing
hate crimes. The working group produced a report for the Minister of the Interior regarding
improvements in data quality and measures to strengthen the legal framework and its
practical application.
27.
According to information provided, the State Police College has developed guidelines
for the identification and investigation of hate crimes. The College has also developed several
training programmes for police officers, which include content on hate crime. The State
Police are also working on developing capacity to address online hate offences. Latvia also
provided information about relevant training delivered to members of the national judiciary
and about plans to implement further training for police and judiciary members on hate
crimes.
28.
The Government of Latvia provided information about complaints of discrimination
and incitement of social hatred and enmity registered with the State Police. Between 2016
and 2020, a total of 121 applications were registered by the State Police. The majority were
motivated by discrimination on the basis of ethnic or national origin. Within the same period,
111 applications were registered by the State Security Service related to genocide, invitation
to genocide, and acquittal of genocide and crimes against humanity, and to the triggering of
national, ethnic and racial hatred, the majority of which related to content posted on the
Internet, according to the information provided.
29.
When reporting the measures taken to promote political, social and cultural tolerance
and prevent hate crime, Latvia signalled the National Identity, Civil Society and Integration
Policy Implementation Plan 2019−2020; its membership in the Framework Convention for
the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe; and measures to uphold
linguistic plurality within educational institutions and ensure the right of citizens to receive
6