A/HRC/38/53 19. In January 2018, anti-Semitic posts on social media and conversations denying the Holocaust rose by almost thirty per cent compared with the same period in 2016. 22 On average, around 550 posts a day used neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic symbols, and 108 posts a day denied the Holocaust.23 20. In the United States, anti-Semitic incidents rose by nearly 60 per cent, with 1,986 anti-Semitic incidents occurring in 2017.24 Similarly, in the United Kingdom, anti-Semitic hate incidents have reached record highs, with a total of 1,382 recorded in 2017. 25 Germany has also seen a rise in hate crimes perpetrated by neo-Nazis. 26 Government intelligence agency reports also show an uptick in far-right violent crimes.27 21. An emerging neo-Nazi group in the United States, Atomwaffen, has been linked to the suspects of at least five recent murders. 28 A well-known white supremacist website, Stormfront.org, or as dubbed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, “the murder capital of the internet”, is linked to almost 100 killings between 2009 and 2015.29 White supremacist murders more than doubled in 2017 compared with 2016 — accounting for 18 of the total 34 extremist-related murders in the United States. 30 B. The recent political impact and political popularity of neo-Nazism 22. The Special Rapporteur expresses her deep concerns at the general growing presence of expressions of Nazism, neo-Nazism and fascism in politics worldwide, especially in several European and North American countries. Neo-Nazi groups today are emboldened by prominent populist leaders who share their beliefs and espouse the same rhetoric as they do. Indeed, the rise of populism and, especially, right-wing, nationalist populism has, in some countries, aided the popularity of neo-Nazi ideology. Although many nationalist populist leaders in Europe, North America and Australia 31 formally disavow neo-Nazi ideology, they nonetheless express support for racist and xenophobic tenets that are premised on similar ideologies of racial superiority that are at the core of neo-Nazi ideology. All theories of racial superiority, and all efforts to scapegoat persons on the basis of their race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation or related status make the work of neoNazis easier. Even where neo-Nazis are not formally included in Government, the presence therein of extreme right-wing ideologues can have the effect of injecting into governance and political discourse the very same ideologies that make neo-Nazism so dangerous. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 See www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/holocaust-denial-and-anti-semitism-on-social-media-up30-percent-in-january-2018-compared-to-2016-wjc-report-finds-2-3-2018. World Jewish Congress, “Anti-Semitic symbols and Holocaust denial in social media posts: January 2018”. Available from the web page in the preceding footnote. Anti-Defamation League, “2017 audit of anti-Semitic incidents”. Available at https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/2017-audit-of-anti-semitic-incidents. Community Security Trust, “Antisemitic incidents report 2017”. Available at https://cst.org.uk/data/file/a/b/IR17.1517308734.pdf. Germany, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Versfassungschutzbericht 2016 (Berlin, 2017), pp. 23–24 and 40. Available at https://www.verfassungsschutz.de/embed/vsbericht-2016.pdf. Deutsche Welle, “Germany: far-right violence and Islamist threat on the rise”, 4 April 2017. Available at www.dw.com/en/germany-far-right-violence-and-islamist-threat-on-the-rise/a-39534868. Anti-Defamation League, “Murder and extremism in the United States in 2017: an ADL Center on extremism report”. Available at https://www.adl.org/resources/reports/murder-and-extremism-in-theunited-states-in-2017. Heidi Beirich, “White homicide worldwide” (Alabama, Southern Poverty Law Center, 2014). Available at https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/d6_legacy_files/downloads/publication/white-homicideworldwide.pdf. Anti-Defamation League press release, “ADL report: white supremacist murders more than doubled in 2017”, 17 January 2018. Available at https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-report-whitesupremacist-murders-more-than-doubled-in-2017. See also River Donaghey, “Armed neo-Nazi attempted terror attack on Amtrak train”, Vice, 5 January 2018. Available at https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7xewbg/armed-neo-nazi-attempted-terror-attack-on-amtrak-trainfbi-says-vgtrn. See A/HRC/35/41/Add.4, para. 51. 7