RICARDO GARCIA GARCIA MINISTRY OF JUSTICE Subdirectorate General for Relations with Religious Confessions PERMANENT MISSION OF SPAIN TO THE UN BUREAU III. Protection of the existence of and prevention of violence against religious minorities The protection of the minorities, including religious ones, against hate speech. We definitely reject any type of persecution of whichever religious minority anywhere it occurs. It seems necessary to prevent and resolve the above mentioned hate crimes occurring in democratic societies. In this regard we note the following: 1. The excessive violence and attacks on democracy triggered by hate crimes. Examples: injuries, murders, damages and havoc, defamations, insults, slander, violations, etc. A clear example of discrimination. What does it persecute? To terrify a group of people, in this case religious minorities. 2. The fight against hate crimes in Spain: 1. Prevention a. Non-curricular educational initiatives: draft of a master plan of education in safety. b. Regular educational initiatives. 2. Persecution a. Interventions of the State security forces and bodies. b. Actions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office: special prosecutors of hate crimes. c. Individual claims. 3. Reparations to victims a. Indemnities and reparations 4. Improvement of the legal system It is urgent to penalise any behaviour that fosters, promotes or encourages directly or indirectly hatred, hostility, discrimination or violence, as well as any action that affects dignity and triggers humiliation, contempt or disrepute against a group, as a whole part or toward an individual because of their belonging to this group, for any racist or anti-Semitic reason, or any other reference to the ideology, religion or belief, family situation, belonging to ethnic or particular national background, race, gender, sexual orientation, illness or disability. If the implementation of the above mentioned actions leads to the creation, elaboration or stocking of a hate content that is intended to be disseminated and addressed to third parties through distribution or sale, or if crimes are exalted or justified in public means of expression, these actions should also be penalised. The imposed penalty should be heavier if the content is covered in social