Xenophobia, Radicalism, and Hate Crime in the Osce Area 2018-2020
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Moscow Economical Institute European Centre for Democracy Development XENOPHOBIA, RADICALISM, AND HATE CRIME IN THE OSCE AREA 2018-2020 Report Amsterdam - Athens - Ottawa - Berlin - Washington - Warsaw - London - Madrid - Kiev - Moscow - Paris - Rome 2021 1 Editor-in-chief and project manager: Valery Engel, PhD Authors: Dr. Valery Engel, (General Analytics, the Historiography of the Issue), Dr. Jean-Yves Camus (France), Dr. William Allchorne (UK), Dr. Anna Castriota (Italy), Marina Peunova-Connor (USA), Barbara Molas (Canada), Dr. Ali Dizboni (Canada) Dr. Vanja Ljujic (Netherlands), Dr. Pranvera Tika (Greece), Dr. Katarzyna du Wal (Poland), Dr. Dmitri Stratijewski (Germany), Ruslan Bortnyk (Ukraine), Laia Tarragona (Spain), Dr. Semen Charny ( Russia) Xenophobia, Radicalism and Hate Crimes in the OSCE Area. - Riga: 2021. - 161 p. The monograph "Xenophobia, Radicalism and, Hate Crimes in the OSCE Area, 2018-20", prepared by the Moscow Economic Institute with the assistance of the European Center for the Development of Democracy, is a study by leading experts from around the world, based on monitoring and comparative analysis of anti- extremist legislation, law enforcement practice, the level of public tolerance, statistics of hate crimes committed, and activities of radical and extremist organizations from 2018 to 2020 in a number of countries around the world. The geographic scope of the study is designated as the "OSCE area", although we are talking about 10 European countries and 2 North countries including America. Of course, such a set of monitoring countries does not cover all the states that are members of this international organization, however, it allows us to trace general trends in lawmaking, law enforcement practice and other spheres of government and public life that affect the situation with extremism. The work analyzes the factors influencing the formation of public demand for radicalism, manifestations of xenophobia and racism, and provides statistics on hate crimes. A separate subject of research is the description of the main active radical and extremist organizations in Europe and North America. The analysis is given on the example of Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and France, as well as the USA, Canada, Russia and Ukraine. ISBN © Moscow Economical Institute, 2021 © European Center for Democracy Development, 2021 2 ANNEX. OBJECTIVES AND METHODOLOGY OF THE RESEARCH The purpose of this Study is to identify common trends in combating radicalism and extremism in the OSCE area in the sphere of lawmaking and law enforcement practice, as well as to identify the most successful experiences in countering these phenomena. Another goal of the monograph was to determine the current level of xenophobia and hate crimes in the countries monitored, based on analysis of sociological surveys, official data, and materials of non-governmental organizations. The research also included an analysis of the activities of radical and extremist organizations, which are, in fact, the main beneficiaries and participants in social processes that lead to new risks to public security and the stability of existing political systems. Since there are different views of extremism around the world, as well as different assessments of the threats to public security in connection with extremist and radical manifestations, and, consequently, different requirements for anti-extremist legislation and law enforcement practices, the only relevant research methodology in this case is the method of international comparative dynamic analysis. On the other hand, each country has its own criteria for hate crimes and extremism, which do not allow for a simple statistical comparative analysis of crime in the monitoring countries. However, a complex comparative analysis is possible when the percentage dynamics for each country are compared separately for a certain time period. The method of international comparative analysis implies the study of the subject of research by comparing and contrasting similar political, social and other phenomena in different countries and political systems in order to identify common patterns and conditions of their emergence in the course of socio-political and socio-economic processes. The dynamic nature of comparative analysis is expressed in the fact that the study affects a certain historical period, in this case the empirical data was collected for 7 years - from 2013 to 2020. As a rule, comparative analysis is used when comparing complex processes and phenomena, which are described by a set of widely varying characteristics. For this reason, this method is well suited for the study of various social and political factors, including the preconditions for the radicalization of society, threats to public security, etc. The analysis was conducted on the following countries in Europe and America: the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Poland, Greece, Italy, Ukraine, Russia, the Netherlands, and Spain. The choice of monitoring countries was based on such factors as a commitment to the shared values declared by international organizations promoting cooperation in the field of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, rule of law and cultural interaction, such as the Council of Europe and the OSCE. An important factor was also the common challenges in the field of countering extremism and radicalization that each of these countries has faced in recent years. The list of monitoring countries allows for an analysis of the above factors in the OSCE area, although it does not include a number of European and FSUSoviet Union countries, which are members of the organization. 3 Nevertheless, it allows tracing general trends in lawmaking, law enforcement practices and other spheres of state administration and public life that affect the situation with extremism in all these countries. Based on the objectives of the study, the object of the study was anti-extremist and anti- discrimination legislation, which can affect the situation of national and religious minorities, law enforcement practices regarding the protection of public safety, minority rights, and extremist actions. Xenophobic sentiments in the monitoring countries and their influence on the radicalization of society, activities of extremist groups, and their influence on the radicalization of certain population groups, as well as other factors influencing this process were also the object of analysis. In addition, hate crimes and the dependence of their number and severity on the level of radicalization of society and the activity of extremist organizations became a separate object of research. As mentioned above, extremist and radical organizations were a separate subject of study. In fact, the paper compiled a complete list of the most significant of them, including international network structures, and gave an overview of their methods of work, including the dissemination of their views and the recruitment of new members in the online information environment. Researchers from many European universities and research centers contributed to this article: The Center for Analysis of the Radical Right, UK; the Observatoire des radicalités politiques in Paris (Observatoire des radicalités politiques); Pantheon University of Athens; Berlin Registry for the Documentation of Right-Wing Extremism and Discrimination for the Steglitz-Zehlendorf District (Germany); Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement; Jagiellonian University; Dept. The Institute for the Study of National Policy and Interethnic Relations, Moscow; the Ukrainian Institute for Policy Analysis and Management; York University (Toronto); and others. THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE ISSUE. Against the backdrop of a huge body of work on radicalism and extremism in individual countries, studies of general regional trends, particularly comparative studies of radicalism in Europe, North America, or the former Soviet Union, are not common. In 1994, the journal Contemporary European History published an article by Diethelm Prowe, professor of history at Carleton College, entitled "’Classic' Fascism and the New Radical Right in Western Europe: Comparisons and Contrasts". The author, drawing on the political and economic realities of the time (multicultural society, decolonization, the end of the Cold War, a thriving consumer society, the widespread triumph of democracy, etc.), concludes that the threat of right- wing radicalism is virtually leveled and can do no harm to the society of the future. To repeat the phrase of Richard Stöss, then a popular political scientist and professor at the Free University of Berlin, he stated in his work, as if to draw a line under the past period: "Grandpa Fascism is dead.”1 1 Diethelm Prowe, "'Classic' Fascism and the New Radical Right in Western Europe: Comparisons and Contrasts" // "Contemporary European History", vol. 3 #3, Nov. 1994, pp. 289-313, online at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/20081528?seq=1 4 In the 80-90s of the last century, when the place of right-wing radical, populist, and nationalist parties in the political spectrum of European countries had changed and a trend to increase their electoral appeal was outlined, the attitude of fundamental science to them had also changed. During this period, works aiming to thoroughly study this new phenomenon in order to clarify the objective and subjective reasons for their unexpected resurrection from oblivion began to appear. As early as 1997, Professor