A number of xenophobic and racist incidents occurred during the year, and the government and local NGOs reported a noticeable increase in the total number of hate crimes.
Prosecutors investigated 1,365 cases of hate crimes, including hate speech, in 2014, compared with 835 in 2013. Of these, 624 cases involved the internet, 188 cases were racist graffiti on walls or buildings, monuments and graves, 108 referred to making verbal threats to other persons, 89 cases were related to the use of violence against other persons, 35 involved beating by more than one person, 44 involved bodily injury, 37 involved offensive, harmful or embarrassing physical contact, 34 involved sports fans or athletes, 24 occurred at demonstrations or assemblies, 16 involved press and book publications, six concerned television and radio programs, and six involved arson. Information on the remaining 154 hate crimes was unavailable.
In September various groups organized more than 20 anti-immigrant marches around the country as part of a planned nationwide action against immigrants and refugees. Police did not intervene in any of these demonstrations, claiming the marches were peaceful and the public order was not disturbed. There were reports of attacks on immigrant-owned businesses during and after some protests.
Xenophobic behavior and demonstrations sometimes occurred during sporting events. On September 11 and 12, fans of the country’s two largest soccer clubs shouted racist and xenophobic chants and displayed anti-immigrant and anti-Islamic banners during soccer matches in Poznan and Warsaw.
In its June 9 report, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) noted that, despite initiatives taken by the prosecutor general to deal more effectively with racist crimes, there was no increase in the number of convictions, which gave the impression that authorities were not fully committed to combatting these crimes. The report pointed out that racism at sports events remained a real problem, in part because few cases of racist crimes resulted in convictions. The ECRI reported racist and xenophobic comments were a common occurrence on online discussion forums.
Societal discrimination against Roma, whose numbers were estimated to be between 20,000 and 30,000, continued to be a problem. The 2011 national census recorded 16,723 Roma, although an official government report on the Romani community estimated that 20,000-25,000 Roma resided in the country. Romani community representatives estimate that 30,000-35,000 Roma reside in the country.
Unlike in previous years, there were no reports that local officials discriminated against Roma by denying them adequate social services. Romani leaders complained of widespread discrimination in employment, housing, banking, the justice system, the media, and education.
On February 24, the Gdansk prosecutor’s office discontinued an investigation into August 2014 eviction of a 15-member Romani family from Romania who were living on land owned by the city. Prosecutors decided that no crime was committed during the eviction. The investigation resulted from a complaint filed by NOMADA, a Wroclaw-based NGO that promotes human rights in the country. On July 30, police in Wroclaw declined to investigate the complaint by NOMADA that city authorities illegally destroyed one Romani dwelling on city land. Prosecutors decided the city and police had followed all legal procedures during the eviction and demolition.
According to the Ministry of Administration and Digitalization, on average, 80 percent of Romani children between ages six and 16 attend school. Romani organizations and the Ministry of Education reported that authorities, particularly in southern provinces, continued to send many Romani children to schools for children with mental disabilities without cause. During the year the government allocated 10 million zloty ($2.5 million) for programs to support Roma, including for educational programs.
While at the national level approximately 80 percent of Roma were unemployed, levels of unemployment in some regions reached nearly 100 percent.
There were isolated incidents of racially motivated violence, including verbal and physical abuse, directed at persons of African, Asian, or Arab descent. On May 7, the Lodz district court sentenced a 20-year-old man to 14-months’ imprisonment for assaulting two men of African descent in Lodz on March 28. On March 31, the Wroclaw court sentenced one Wroclaw resident to 18-months’ imprisonment and another to 12-months’ imprisonment (both suspended) for assaulting two Congolese citizens outside of a nightclub in June 2014.
The Ukrainian and Belarusian minorities continued to experience petty harassment and discrimination.
Extremist groups, while small in number, maintained a public presence in high-profile marches and on the internet, and they disrupted lectures or debates on issues they opposed. Red Watch, a webpage run by the neo-Nazi group Blood and Honor, listed by name “traitors of the race,” politicians, activists, and representatives of left-wing organizations. The entries often included the home addresses and telephone numbers of the persons listed. Authorities stated they could not do anything, since the site’s servers were located outside the country.