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4.1.2.1.3 The Term Hate Crime Found Problematic, Avoided or Seen as a Relatively Insignificant Issue
Representatives of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR) elaborated more extensively on the discussion surrounding the term »hate crime.« The HFHR does not have an operational definition of hate crimes nor does it use the term often. As Zbigniew Hołda explains, »it depends on the situation, and I think it makes sense to use it in reference to the Criminal Code.« Agnieszka Mikulska pointed to the difficulties the organization has with the whole concept:
»We have a kind of intuition-based thinking about the definition of hate crimes, which considers the ethnic, religious or racial bias of an offense. However it is still not very clear to us what ‘hate crime’ really means. And here the victims’ point of view is important. If we compare Poland with other countries in Europe, then according to the official statistics, the number of hate crimes is definitely smaller in Poland. This is a problem of the definition of hate crimes. In fact, only crimes that have been committed on the basis of ethnicity, religion and race are covered by the Criminal Code, and there are official statistics in this regard. But it is more complicated to get statistics on attacks committed against homosexuals, homeless or disabled people, for example.«
HFHR points to the Penal Code’s narrow definition of these types of crimes. This definition provides a legal basis for institutions to overlook crimes against certain groups that are different from the mainstream, but excluded from this definition. Even though Mikulska claims not to have a clear understanding of the term, Hołda recognizes its importance, and the organization values the victims’ experience as central to determining the motive of the offense. Both representatives of the HFHR stress that hate-motivated incidents are rather rare in Poland and affect mainly Africans, black people and the Roma population. According to Professor Hołda, not too many refugees and migrants complain about racist attitudes or violent attacks. Agnieszka Mikulska supports the assertion that physical attacks are not so frequent in Poland, »at least [not] on the basis of ethnic origin.« She adds:
»Minor incidents such as pushing happen more often, but usually such incidents are not registered cases. Victims do not go to the police station. Also there are attacks against property and cases of hate speech which happen more often, but most of them are not registered and investigated.«
The major problem discussed here by HFHR’s representative is the limited recognition of hate crime as a distinct problem. This might result from lack of knowledge or awareness of the victim’s perspective as well as the ideological mechanisms (racial prejudice, anti-Semitism, nationalist extremism etc.) that lie behind these incidents. Another important aspect highlighted here is victims’ reluctance to report hatred-motivated incidents (especially the »minor« ones), which might be due to their fear of making themselves »visible« to law enforcement institutions, media and the perpetrators, likely because they are afraid of perpetrators’ vengeance or—in the case of undocumented migrants—are afraid of jeopardizing their residence or work in Poland. Mikulska also acknowledges that Roma organizations and individuals regularly request help from the HFHR in cases of discrimination, while in contrast, Africans and other migrants usually contact them with administrative and legal questions. Many Roma bring attention to the problem of racism (in media, workplace etc.). In these cases »we can only intervene by writing a letter to the authorities or preparing a press release.« At the same time, she pointed out that »the problem of Islamophobia and discrimination of Arab people […] is very pervasive in Poland.« Anti-Semitism, in her opinion, is less characteristic for Poland than for other countries with a higher number of Jewish inhabitants. In contrast, the Jewish Cultural Association Beit Warszawa was quoted earlier in this study as perceiving anti-Semitic sentiment to be deeply engrained in the every day. This organization works directly with the Jewish community, whereas the HFHR, as a general human rights organization, may not have regular contact with the experiences of many Jewish individuals.
For the German Students Union (Verein Deutscher Hochschüler in Polen zu Oppeln), a group focused on promoting German culture, xenophobic violence is not an issue at all. Despite some forms of discrimination experienced on the local level (related mainly to anti-German prejudice among older generation of Poles as well as public institutions), the group’s representative believes the problem of hate crime in the context of the German community is virtually non-existent. However, its chairman, Małgorzata Koszyk, has shown interest in cooperating on issues of discrimination and hate crime monitoring.
Similar to the German Students Union but less expected was the assessment of some representatives of ethnic and religious communities that are actually counted as »visible minorities.« Groups who are theoretically most threatened by hate crime — Asian migrant communities (Vietnamese and Mongolian), Arabs, Muslims, and African students — do not perceive hate crimes to be a major issue in Poland. (3)
Nguyen Van Thai of the Solidarity and Friendship Association of the Vietnamese in Poland (Stowarzyszenie Wietnamczyków w Polsce »Solidarnosc i Przyjan«) stated, for example: »We do not deal with hate crimes. The Poles are good people, and I do not see a problem.« To his knowledge, most offenses that are committed against the Vietnamese community are not motivated by racial hate or right-wing ideology, but rather related to their difficult legal situation which perpetrators take advantage of. (4) At the same time, Mr. Nguyen Van Thai told the interviewer about numerous cases of abuse and mistreatment of the Vietnamese community in Poland, mainly by law enforcement officers, border guards or other private security services on the streets and markets (a large number of Vietnamese migrants are retail merchants).
A similar discrepancy exists within the Muslim and Arab community, where some claim the situation is peaceful and stable, and others have a different story. Ali Abi Issa, an imam of the Muslim congregation in Wrocław and director of the Muslim Centre for Culture and Education (Muzułmańskie Centrum Kulturalno-Oświatowe), said in an interview that the promotion of inter-cultural understanding and tolerance constitutes one of the priorities of the center’s activities. While Ali Abi Issa admitted that »activity against discrimination and xenophobia is our daily bread,« he seemed to downplay the issue of hate crime, arguing that Polish Muslims do not talk about hate crime because the problem does not concern them. Furthermore, he added that he had never heard of any anti-Muslim crimes in Wrocław: »What’s more, Muslims say that Wrocław is a very open city and they live well here.« Ali Abi Issa is convinced that Polish people (and Slavic people in general) are more tolerant and open to Muslims than other European countries. This judgment, however, stands in stark contrast to the more critical attitude posed by Marek Kubicki of Arabia.pl Association regarding the hate crime problem in this community. Not only has the state security service imposed harsher treatment of Muslims and Arabs in Poland, according to Kubicki, but there have been instances of arson attacks on Arab restaurants, including two cases in 2001 in Wrocław. (5) This has been reinforced by popularized stereotypes and other anti-Muslim sentiment in the media. Both perspectives demonstrate the complexity in gauging the extent to which discrimination affects the Polish Muslim and Arab community.
Less distinct forms of downplaying the problem of hate crime can be noticed in the interviews with representatives of the African and Mongolian student groups. Filip Kitundu of the Society for African Affairs at the Jagiellonian University (Afrykańskie Koło Naukowe Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego) in Kraków recognized the problem of racism, yet he was very moderate when speaking about hate crime incidents experienced by himself and his colleagues: »I cannot be a spokesman of the others but in my case, racist acts were accidental.« He talked about verbal assaults (»niggers stink,« »Poland for Polish«), but also mentioned physical attacks such as pushing. Mr. Kitundu has lived in Poland for five years and remembers »only« two racist acts against him. He explained that this may be because he does not have as dark skin as his colleagues who have had many more problems with racism (mostly verbal assaults). However, Kitundu recognized those incidents as hate crimes.
Nomondalai Erdenechimeg of the Mongolian Student Community admitted that the term »hate crime« is unknown in her social circle, yet she recognized the problem of discrimination towards Mongolians and other Asian groups in Poland. Nomondalai Erdenechimeg does not believe that hate crime is the largest problem in the Mongolian community because cases of aggressive violence against the Mongolians are rather rare. According to her, physical and verbal attacks are not as much of an issue for Mongolian students and doctors as for undocumented workers and retail merchants, e.g. in the Stadium Market in Warsaw. Yet she added: »I do not know if we could consider it [mistreatment of Mongolian workers and merchants] a hate crime; these are internal fights among the traders and sellers.«
3. One exception in this group of immigrant community organizations is the Belarussian Social and Cultural Society in Bialystok, representing a large, established and legally recognized national minority. Leaders of this association refused to give an interview because they »are afraid to talk about discrimination and hate crimes.«
4. According to Nguyen Van Thai, 70 percent of the Vietnamese in Poland do not have legal documents or the right to live and work in the country. They cross the border illegally and cannot apply for the refugee status because most of them are not victims of political oppression in their country. By remaining undocumented in Poland, they run the risk of deportation to Vietnam and losing their property. In order to avoid this, some Vietnamese enter into marriages of convenience or try to hide their identity when the police arrest them.
5. The night of the 3 October 2001, a local fire brigade responded to a fire in an Arab restaurant in Bogusławskiego Street. It was the second attempted arson attack against an Arab restaurant within a few days. On 29 September, around 4 am, somebody broke the window of another restaurant in Odrzańska Street, owned by the same man, a Syrian resident of Poland, and threw a bottle filled with petrol. It was revealed that in the October incident somebody poured 20 liters of petrol through the chimney. Nigdy Więcej’s believes these attacks occurred within the context of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. Nigdy Więcej. Katalog Wypadków Brunatna Księga. See also: Nigdy Więcej, Nr. 13, wiosna 2003, p. 18.
(OPP)
