A/HRC/44/57/Add.2 antisemitic hate crimes.27 Antisemitic incidents most commonly take the form of vandalism, verbal abuse and hate emails. Recent trends, however, show an alarming increase in Holocaust denial online. Antisemitic incidents often occur at school, at work or in neighbourhoods. Furthermore, antisemitic and Afro-phobic chants in sporting events also remain an issue. 48. Although much work remains to be done to ensure accountability, the Government has commendably taken action to prosecute those responsible for discriminatory crimes and speech. The Special Rapporteur was encouraged to learn of prosecutions of high-ranking politicians. As noted by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, however, sanctions for those who are convicted of discrimination remain disproportionately low relative to their severity, undercutting the deterrent effect of the punishments. For example, the District Court of The Hague convicted a right-wing politician who had sung an anti-Moroccan chant during a political rally for inciting discrimination and insult. Because the defendant was a democratically elected member of parliament, the Court considered the case exceptional. The Court decided that it need not follow sentencing for other cases inciting discrimination and insult; in the Court’s eyes, declaring a politician guilty without imposing a punishment was sufficient. 28 49. The Special Rapporteur is concerned, moreover, that those prosecuted for racist violence and disorderly conduct for attacking people peacefully protesting against racism have received minimal sanctions. For example, those convicted of attacking peaceful antiBlack Piet protesters in 2018 received fines and community service. Such sentences do not send a message that is sufficiently strong to deter others from engaging in similarly offensive behaviour. C. Law enforcement and ethnic profiling 50. Racial and ethnic profiling are impermissible under international human rights law. Yet, despite these legal obligations and the Netherlands’ claim that it does not engage in profiling, minority communities and several experts continue to document racial and ethnic profiling by the Netherlands Police and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. Their evidence suggests that racial and ethnic profiling is a persistent practice. 29 In addition, substantial evidence exists indicating that profiling happens during traffic control stops, identity checks, preventive searches and border stops.30 51. Minority communities have expressed fear, mistrust and frustration at being overpoliced and underserved. Members of such communities have reported that police officers use their stop-and-search powers disproportionately on members of minority groups31 and are emboldened to misuse their powers by weak accountability mechanisms for stop-and-search operations. A 2016 study commissioned by the Government revealed that the police used proactive investigatory stops-and-searches to disproportionately target ethnic minorities. The study also found that in 40 per cent of cases the police did not have an objective and reasonable basis for conducting proactive investigatory stops.32 A 2019 survey carried out by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights revealed that 61 per cent of individuals of North African origin/descent in the Netherlands reported having been stopped by the police in the previous five years and that they perceived those stops to have been the result of ethnic profiling.33 This rate far exceeds the percentage reported by individuals of European origin/descent.34 A 2017 survey carried out by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights revealed that in the Netherlands Muslims have less trust in 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 10 https://hatecrime.osce.org/netherlands. https://uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl/inziendocument?id=ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2016:15014 (in Dutch). See www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/EUR3504392019ENGLISH.PDF. See www.amnesty.nl/content/uploads/2017/05/EUR3554622016ENGLISH.pdf?x54649. CERD/C/NLD/CO/19-21. See www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/EUR3504392019ENGLISH.PDF. See https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2017-eu-midis-ii-main-results_en.pdf. See https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2019/second-european-union-minorities-and-discriminationsurvey-migrant-women-selected.