A/HRC/43/50/Add.1 6. Hate speech and hate crimes 75. The Special Rapporteur was dismayed to learn of the spate of purported hate incidents and the reported rise in hate speech, including on the Internet, of increasing intensity, targeting, inter alia, members of minorities and their cultural sites. In some instances, persons in official positions have engaged in hate speech with impunity, creating an atmosphere of fear and exclusion for those not deemed to be “truly” Polish. Some of the impacts reported to the Special Rapporteur included persons belonging to minorities leaving their homes less frequently to avoid being targeted and feeling less comfortable displaying their identities publicly. 76. Events under investigation at the time of the visit include an October 2017 incident when a rock was thrown at the Muslim cultural centre in Warsaw, incidents at a Gdańsk synagogue and a break-in and related vandalism at a burial house located in the Jewish cemetery in Kalisz. In another incident, in which an anonymous antisemitic letter directed at the Polish Centre for Holocaust Research was left at the Centre’s door, calling its staff members “stupid dirty Jews” and “liars” and referring to historians Barbara Engelking and Jan Grabowski as “lying” and “crazed with hatred of Poland and Poles”, the Prosecutor declined to investigate. All such acts raise human rights concerns. The impact of antisemitic acts is magnified by the history of the Holocaust. 77. The Special Rapporteur was alarmed by the fact that, when she herself raised reports of such a “series of events” in a meeting with a highly placed official with responsibility for equality, she was told that she was “insulting the nation”. In every society, it is essential to have an open debate about reports of hate speech and hate incidents, including violence, and their impact on human rights, so as to appropriately document these incidents, prevent them in the future and punish perpetrators where appropriate and in accordance with international standards. Denial and defensiveness will not solve the problem. 78. Moreover, the Special Rapporteur calls on the authorities to investigate why their official statistics at the time of her visit appeared to show that such incidents were diminishing when civil society and representatives of targeted groups reported experiencing precisely the opposite trajectory in the same time frame. The Government must give serious consideration to the question of how to facilitate reporting. The Special Rapporteur notes that the Commissioner for Human Rights has indicated that only approximately 5 per cent of hate crimes are reported. Whatever the precise number of incidents, failure to acknowledge the concerns of citizens and take appropriate action to respond can only lead to a lack of social trust in the relevant authorities and institutions and to less reporting. 79. The Special Rapporteur visited the New Synagogue in Gdańsk, which had a large paving stone thrown through its window on Yom Kippur, 19 September 2018, narrowly missing women and children. She salutes the rapid and sensitive response by the late Mayor of Gdańsk and some local religious leaders to this incident, which is a model of local action, and the response of the central Government two days later. She looks forward to receiving an update on the results of the investigation into this incident. 80. The Special Rapporteur strongly condemns the assassination of the Mayor of Gdansk, Paweł Adamowicz, during a cultural event shortly after her visit, in January 2019, and calls for the alleged perpetrator to be brought to justice and for a full investigation of the reported role of hate speech in motivating this tragic killing, which shocked the nation and also represented an attack on its cultural life. She is concerned about reports of threats against the current Mayor. The Government of Poland must act now and with urgency to ensure that acts of political violence, including those motivated by extremist rhetoric, do not multiply. 81. For all the cases mentioned above, and as a matter of principle for all hate crimes, the Special Rapporteur urges that the findings and information be made available to the persons and organizations concerned as soon as possible, that the perpetrators be brought to justice in accordance with the law to deter any repetition and send a clear message about the unacceptability and gravity of such acts. The Criminal Code specifically provides for the investigation of hate crimes motivated by race, ethnicity, nationality, religion and political affiliation and the prosecution of those allegedly responsible. However, the Government does not seem to have developed an effective overall response to hate incidents. Whereas the engagement of civil society in countering hate speech and hate incidents is laudable and necessary, it is not an alternative to resolute government policy, as 14