Cyprus Police (2020), 'Περιστατικά ή/και Υποθέσεις Ρατσιστικής φύσεως ή/και με Ρατσιστικό κίνητρο 2005-2019' (Incidents and/or cases of a racial nature and/or racially motivated 2005-2019), May 2020.

Country

Cyprus

Title

Cyprus Police (2020), 'Περιστατικά ή/και Υποθέσεις Ρατσιστικής φύσεως ή/και με Ρατσιστικό κίνητρο 2005-2019' (Incidents and/or cases of a racial nature and/or racially motivated 2005-2019), May 2020.

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Year

2020

Type of publication

Hate crime reporting

Geographical coverage

National

Area/location of interest

Not applicable - national level

Type of Institution

Public authority

Institution

Cyprus, Police

Main Thematic Focus

Hate crime Hate speech Racism & xenophobia Islamophobia

Target Population

Migrants Muslims Ethnic minorities

Key findings

During 2019 a total of 40 incidents of hate crime/speech were recorded, 27 of which were mere registrations and 13 led to criminal investigations. In the category of criminal investigations, two cases were archived as unsolved, five cases were under investigation, and six cases were lodged in court and the trial is pending. No court decisions were issued in 2019 or 2020 in respect of cases filed in previous years. Out of the 40 cases recorded in 2019, six were assaults against the person, one was an attack against property, and 39 were threats, oral racial attacks or hate speech. The incidents recorded concerned 53 complainants and 63 perpetrators. The complainants in 2019 were from Egypt (1), Guinea (1), Greek Cypriots (12), India (3), Cameroon (2), Lebanon (1), Oman (3), Ukraine (1), Romania (5), Russia (1), Somalia (1), Syria (3), Turkish Cypriots (9), Turkish (1) and in five incidents the victims were of unknown origin. The persons accused were from Armenia (1), Greece (4), Russia (1), Syria (1), two assailants were unknown, two were Turkish Cypriots and 53 were Greek Cypriots. Out of the 52 incidents recorded in 2019, 26 concerned ethnicity and six concerned religion. Out of the six incidents concerning religion, three concerned Islam. Out of the 26 incidents concerning ethnicity, nine concerned persons of Arab descent who were Muslims. Out of the nine incidents, only three went to court because for the remaining six the victims did not want any further police involvement or no official complaint was filed. The police explained that the main difficulty with taking cases to court is that often the complainants cannot be located after they file complaints, either because they left Cyprus or they changed their address without forwarding address; and after a number of court appearances where the complainant is not present, the court withdraws the case. Complaints from Turkish Cypriots are not recorded as Anti-Muslim complaints because historically and constitutionally the marker of identity for Turkish Cypriots is ethnicity and not religion (telephone consultation with police anti-discrimination unit, 18 August 2020).

Methodology (Qualitative/Quantitative and exact type used, questionnaires etc)

The police database comprises of complaints submitted by victims or third parties or by self-initiated recording from the police itself.

Sample details and representativeness

N/A

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