RACIST VIOLENCE IN 15 EU MEMBER STATES - Cospe

RACIST VIOLENCE IN 15 EU MEMBER STATES - A Comparative Overview of Findings from the RAXEN NFP Reports 2001-2004
11.3. NATURE AND EXTENT OF RACIST VIOLENCE
Due to a lack of official and unofficial data on racist violence, RAXEN 4 collected
information on the basis of reports in Italian newspapers, which were analysed on a
daily basis for the period September 2002 – September 2003. The research was
cross-checked with the report by Rivera (above).
On the basis of RAXEN 4’s research, the following cases were identified in
newspapers for the period:
September 2002 – August 2003:
Racist Violence
• 88 cases of ‘racist violence’ – of which, 40 cases were verbal and 48 were
physical violence.
• Of these 48 cases of physical violence, 43 cases were related to aggression and
ill-treatment, of which: 17 were by police and other institutional actors; 15 by
non-institutional actors; 8 by extreme right-wing organisations; 3 by noninstitutional
actors with the help of institutional actors.
• Of these 48 cases of physical violence, 5 were death caused by violence/illtreatment/abuse/omission,
of which: 3 were by police and other institutional
actors; 2 by unidentified actors.
Perpetrators
• 88 cases of verbal and physical ‘violence’.
• Of those cases where perpetrators could be identified, the following
classifications were assigned: Extreme right-wing individuals or groups, 23
cases; ‘Ordinary’ citizens or unidentified individuals/groups, 21 cases; police
force members, 17 cases; members of the Northern League, 15 cases.
Victims
• Of the 88 cases of verbal and physical ‘violence’, victims were identified as
follows: Immigrants and refugees, 64 cases; ‘Gypsies’, 15 cases; Jews, 12 cases
(this amounts to 91, and can be explained by the same victim being
characterised on two accounts; for example: someone can be described as an
‘immigrant’ and a ‘Gypsy’).
• Of the 88 cases of verbal and physical ‘violence’, victims were identified as
follows: Men, 48 cases; Women, 17 cases; Minors, 4 cases (this amounts to 69,
and can be explained by the non-identification of gender/minor status in most
cases).
• The nationality of victims tended to be reported in cases involving physical
violence. The nationalities most often referred to in reports where: Moroccan,
7; Tunisian, 3; Indian, 3; Nigerian, 2.
• At least two newspaper reports refer to incidents against groups of Gypsies.
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