27/06/2022
FSG Igualdad y Lucha contra la discriminación
On 26 May, the plenary session of the Congress of Deputies approved an organic amendment to the Proposition of Organic Law complementary to the Integral Law for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination, amending Organic Law 10/1995 of the Criminal Code.
This amendment will change the Criminal Code by introducing antigypsyism as one of the reasons explicitly contemplated when considering a crime to be a hate crime. This will entail the modification of Article 22, 4th exception, on the circumstances that aggravate criminal liability for committing a crime with discriminatory motivations and points 1 and 2 of Article 510, which regulates hate speech.
Adoption with a broad political consensus
The initiative, which received 293 votes in favour and 50 abstentions, has achieved, by far, the absolute majority required in Congress given its organic nature. For the FSG, this broad political consensus has a fundamental value: to convey to the Roma community that, from a wide spectrum of political positions and ideologies, they have the support of our legislative representatives.
This amendment will make those who publicly promote or incite hatred, discrimination or violence "on anti-Roma grounds" punishable by a prison sentence of one to four years and fines of six to twelve months. In addition, it is foreseen that when any type of crime regulated in our criminal code is committed "for anti-Roma reasons", the penalty will be higher than when there is no discriminatory motivation.
Historical debt towards the Roma community
The recognition of antigypsyism as a hate motive explicitly included in the Criminal Code is not only perfectly in line with European recommendations in this area, but also contributes to redressing human rights violations committed in the past with an anti-Roma motivation. In short, this is a historic milestone for the Roma community, historically repressed by institutions and laws, and which finally finds in the current legislation, a recognition of the discrimination they have suffered, as well as a specific protection provided by the legislation and the courts.
Final approval
On 22 June, after its vote in the Senate, the Spanish Parliament definitively approved the Proposition of Organic Law complementary to the Integral Law for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination, amending Organic Law 10/1995 of the Criminal Code.
Speech by Sara Giménez, Congress of Deputies 26.05.2022
