Hate crimes high, but reporting poor

Hate crimes are still a significant problem in 56 countries in North America, Europe and the former Soviet Union, a new report says.

According to report released last week by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, 2008 saw murders, arson, beatings, vandalism and other crimes targeted against persons or groups because of their race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other status.

The report also stresses that the full extent of hate crimes remains obscured by a lack of reliable data. The Anti-Defamation League and Human Rights First released a joint reaction paper offering recommendations on how to improve countries’ data collection. — jta