A/HRC/11/36/Add.3 page 9 21. In June 2003, responding to a call made by President Bush in his State of the Union address in 2001, the Department of Justice issued a Guidance Regarding the Use of Race by Federal Law Enforcement Agencies prohibiting the use of race or ethnicity in law enforcement practices, the first time such guidelines have been issued. The guidance was formally adopted by the Department of Homeland Security in June 2004. Officials at the Civil Rights Division highlighted that the guidelines were also incorporated in the training modules that all law enforcement officials have to undergo. While officials recognized that the guidelines do not create rights that can be affirmed in court, they highlighted that racial profiling violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution, which therefore offers overarching protection against this practice. B. Hate crimes 22. According to the U.S. Criminal Code, crimes motivated by race, color, religion or national origin can be investigated and prosecuted by federal authorities only when the crime occurs because of the victim’s participation in a federally protected activity (e.g. public education, employment, etc).8 In cases that do not meet the latter requirement, the jurisdiction lies at the state level. Apart from federal regulations, 47 states have laws on hate crimes. 23. The number of hate crimes reported in the United States has decreased from 8,063 reported incidents in 2000 to 7,624 reported incidents in 2007, a fact that was highlighted by officials at the Civil Rights Division. The trend in the past two years is however the opposite, with a 6 percent increase from 2005 to 2007. In 2001, a peak of 9,730 such incidents was reached (a 20 percent increase in comparison to 2000), which the FBI Hate Crimes Statistics relates to the aftermath of 9/11. The number of yearly reported incidents fell back to its normal trend from 2002. 24. In 2007, 3,642 incidents (48.8 percent of total) were motivated by race (68 percent of which were anti-Black); 1,426 incidents (19.1 percent of total) were motivated by religion (65.2 percent of which were anti-Jewish and 10.8 percent anti-Islamic); and 1,102 incidents (14.7 percent of total) were related to ethnicity or national origin (43.5 percent of which were anti-Hispanic).9 25. Officials highlighted the prompt and decisive action of the Civil Rights Division in the aftermath of 9/11 by quickly bringing a number of cases against perpetrators of hate crimes. In particular, 32 “9/11 backlash” cases were brought, involving 42 offenders, 35 of whom were convicted. This response, which involved cooperation with state and local officials, is considered as a key factor in explaining the rapid drop in the number of hate crimes after the peak reached in the aftermath of 9/11. 8 See 18 U.S.C. 245. Other statutes related to hate crimes include conspiracy against rights (18 U.S.C. 241), damage to religious property (18 U.S.C. 247c), criminal interference with the right to fair housing (18 U.S.C. 3631) and criminal interference with voting rights (42 U.S.C. 1973). 9 Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hate Crime Statistics (2000-2007).