A/HRC/44/53/Add.1 (a) Adoption of rules of ethical behaviour of police officers in 2016, which stipulate that staff should respect the dignity of every person, and treat everyone fairly and impartially regardless of their sexual orientation; (b) Nomination of contact points on hate crime at the national and regional levels; (c) Development of internal guidelines on investigating hate crimes 26 and their implementation through a practical guide, accompanied by plans to deliver police training;27 (d) Amendment of the police crime report form to include the possibility to indicate motives of intolerance; (e) Training of employees of the human rights department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the principles of tolerance and non-discrimination; (f) Training of police officers on the principles of tolerance and nondiscrimination and awareness-raising sessions to counter misconceptions related to sexual orientation and gender identity; (g) Production of posters to encourage reporting of hate crime with the slogan: “Being yourself is not a crime – attacking people for who they are, is a crime”; (h) Adoption by the National Police of a hate crime prevention plan for 2019, and the establishment of hate crime monitoring groups in police units. 28 45. In addition, during the visit, the Independent Expert was informed that the Ministry of Internal Affairs envisages integrating training on discrimination and equality in compulsory police training. 46. The Independent Expert welcomes these initiatives and is pleased to see that the measures taken in the past three to four years are starting to positively impact on the categorization and investigation of hate-related incidents. However, the current situation remains suboptimal: despite some improvements, the number of hate crimes motivated by bias against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse persons recorded 29 and investigated by the police remains very low. 47. In addition, the Independent Expert is concerned that the number of sentences handed down for hate crimes remains extremely low, with only two sentences handed down in 2016, three in 2017 and six in 2018. Due to the absence of categorization of homophobic and transphobic crimes in the Criminal Code and the lack of disaggregated data available, he was unable to assess potential progress in prosecuting and sentencing such hate crimes. The impunity resulting from the absence of an effective investigation and relevant legal categorization of these offences as hate crimes sends a clear message: violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse persons is tolerated. 48. The Independent Expert notes that Ukraine is under a particular obligation to act decisively to end impunity for crimes perpetrated on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. This obligation extends to all of the elements in the chain of justice: the police, prosecution, courts and penitentiary system, as well as all connected State services, including systems of legal aid. 26 27 28 29 10 Main Department of Investigations, National Police of Ukraine and Lviv University of Internal Affairs, “Methodological recommendation on investigating hate crimes” (2017). OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Categorizing and Investigating Hate Crimes in Ukraine: A Practical Guide (Warsaw, 2019). See http://hatecrime.osce.org/ukraine?year=2018. According to police records there were 9 such crimes in 2018, 17 in 2017 and 13 in 2016.