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4.1.2.1.1 Combating Hate Crimes as an Explicit Component of an Organization’s Agenda
Among the organizations and groups included in the study, there are four that consciously and overtly use the terminology and perspective of hate crime as the core component of their agenda: the Association for Crisis Intervention, Nigdy Więcej, the Campaign Against Homophobia and the Polish Humanitarian Action (Polska Akcja Humanitarna).
Anna Lipowska-Teutsch of the Association for Crisis Intervention comments: »Our organization was among the first in Poland, which began employing the term ‘hate crime.« At first the association used the Polish translation zbrodnie z nienawiści (felony motivated by hate) while working on the project Against Hate Crime in 2002. Then the Polish term was slightly changed to przestępstwa z nienawiści (crime motivated by hate) in 2006, when implementing another project related to hate crime prevention. Despite the change, the Polish term was still misunderstood and provoked »adverse connotations.« Police officers with whom the association’s staff spoke believed that violence in the family is an example of hate crime. In Lipowska-Teutsch’s opinion, the term »biased crime« and its translation »przestępstwa motywowane uprzedzeniami« are much better suited for the Polish context.
»I would say that we are at the starting point. […] It is important for us, as a society, to negotiate a definition of hate crime that will reflect the actual state of affairs; this means [establishing] what kind of groups are particularly exposed to hate crimes [in Poland]. […] Everyone uses hate speech with everyone else. There is a strong tendency to use aggressive and vulgar language in social interactions.«
Marcin Kornak of Nigdy Więcej explains how their organization recognizes hate crime:
»It depends on the motives of the person who committed the crime. If somebody is attacked because he or she is »different,« we are dealing with an evident hate crime. If the attack is accompanied by racist or chauvinist insults, then there are no doubts.«
In the interview, Kornak elaborated on various types of hate crimes that occur most frequently in Poland. In general, most are physical violence (but also all types of »symbolic violence« and forms of discrimination) against people who do not match the far-right’s criteria of »true Polishness.« As Marcin Kornak puts it: »Grounds for ideologically motivated assaults include different skin color, looks, non-Polish nationality, culture or a different way of life.« Real and potential target groups are:
• Alternative youth expressing their rebelliousness and difference from »mainstream society« by means of, for example, their non-standard appearance. Racists very often use violence against these people. Fascists denounce alternative youth as bad or unworthy Poles or »slobs« and target them with ideologically motivated violence. Examples include attacks on reggae music fans, despised for listening to »black« music.
• The homeless, Nigdy Więcej’s Brown Book includes reports of vicious
assaults and even murders of homeless people, so-called »crimes of contempt.« Sometimes Fascist groups overtly refer to such actions as »cleaning up the city.« According to Marcin Kornak, it is a big problem in Poland, largely ignored and not acknowledged as a hate crime, although it should undoubtedly be qualified as such.
• Football players of color and of foreign nationality, foreign football fans or supporters of antagonistic clubs who are subject to racist attacks, often accompanied by the rhetoric of anti-Semitism (being called »a Jew« is the strongest offense for hooligans). This form of bigotry is so widespread because Fascist or far-right organizations—such as National Rebirth of Poland (Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski, NOP), Blood and Honour (B&H) or All-Polish Youth (Mlodziez Wszechpolska, MW) have infiltrated the environment of football fans. Some racist football fans also committed murders.
• The Roma are common targets of hate crimes in some southern regions of Poland. Most recently in Zywiec and Brzeg, this group became victim of assaults and arson attacks.
• Feminist, liberal, environmentalist, gay and lesbian movements’ demonstrations or alternative music concerts and presentations of modern critical art are attacked by neo-Fascist gangs.
Marcin Kornak added the following offenses to the assortment of frequently occurring hate crimes in Poland: desecrations of graveyards belonging to Jewish or other national and religious minorities (Ukrainian, Russian, German, Greek-Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim), vandalism of gravestones or monuments from Soviet soldiers, and racist, anti-Semitic and neo-Fascist graffiti and acts of vandalism targeting marginalized groups. He also mentioned mistreatment and discrimination against people with disabilities as a serious problem.
In their daily work, various groups and organizations throughout Poland are regularly confronted with the problem of hate speech. Marcin Kornak gives numerous examples of popular publications containing anti-Semitic, nationalistic or racist contents, as well as neo-Nazi Internet sites, such as Redwatch created by the Polish branch of the organization Blood and Honour. On the Polish Redwatch website, one can find pictures, personal descriptions, addresses and other data on a few hundred anti-Fascist, leftist, LGBT and feminist activists and journalists from places all over the country. Marcin Kornak stresses that the reason for creating such a website was to make critics of far-right movements targets of right-wing attacks and harassment.
In the experience of some organizations, hate does not always manifest in physical forms. For their daily activities, the term »hate speech« has greater currency. Katarzyna Nowak, a member of the Nigdy Więcej group in Oświęcim, explains: »We speak about hate speech more often than about hate crimes because in Oświęcim, the town where our activity is focused, there have been no crimes [i.e. acts of physical violence] motivated by ethnic hatred [since the group was formed].« Nigdy Więcej and other groups also regard the social currency of hate speech as a significant issue since it creates a symbolic and ideological »climate« in which the likelihood of hate crime rises.
The terms »hate crime« and »hate speech« are not well-recognized in Poland, so the Campaign Against Homophobia tries to propagate them. Robert Biedroń of the Campaign Against Homophobia states: »We use this term ‘hate crime,’ and we are very much active in spreading its use. We organized one of the few conferences in Poland on the subject of hate crimes and hate speech.» They use the English version along with the Polish translation of the term (felony motivated by hate—zbrodnie z nienawiści, speech motivated by hate—mowa nienawiści).
The social conflicts arising from intolerance and hate crimes are also used in the Kraków chapter of Polish Humanitarian Action, as an educational tool. The organization’s program Humanitarian Education mainly targets young people, and it offers workshops covering issues such human rights, tolerance, civic engagement and global education (about the South). As the program’s coordinator Tadeusz Szczepaniak explains:
»Within the program we run workshops dedicated to the problem of racism, and we try to explain to young people how stereotypes are conceived, how they are transformed into prejudices, and how prejudices, fear and ignorance can lead to racist attitudes and hate crimes. We try to share our knowledge about hate crimes with the youth.«
Polish Humanitarian Action’s educational program is an example of how the awareness of hate crimes contributes to a broader understanding of anti-racist initiatives. The PHA educators seem to recognize that to prevent hate crimes and sensitize society about such issues, it is important to critically look at the wider social and cultural mechanism of stereotyping and prejudice that constitute the fertile ground of hatred-based ideologies. Reaching out to the younger generation is a key task in this undertaking.
(OPP)
