A/HRC/41/45/Add.1 50. After his visit, the Independent Expert was informed about the adoption in February 2019 of the Strategy and Action Plan on the Development of the Penitentiary and Crime Prevention Systems for 2019–2020. A core principle of the strategic documents is to ensure respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms, paying particular attention to vulnerable groups. The Independent Expert recommends that the State gather baseline information on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse populations in prison, including with regard to the size and the needs of those diverse populations, and incorporate components related to their care, protection and social integration in policy documents. 4. Hate speech 51. Ignorance about issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity and misconceptions create fertile ground for the manipulation of public opinion. An analysis of Georgian media monitoring shows that, in public spaces, homophobic hate speech is most frequently used by political and religious figures. For the former, it is at its height during elections, as the theme of sexual orientation and gender identity is often used to political ends. 52. Those responsible for hate speech are rarely reprimanded publicly by the authorities, which thus condone and tacitly encourage such acts as a valid way to gain public approval, which the Independent Expert deeply regrets. The responsibility of authorities and public figures not to incite or exacerbate hatred and discrimination is a well-established obligation under international human rights law. These obligations notwithstanding, a civil society organization reported that 731 homophobic public statements had been made in 2017, 255 by the media, 153 by politicians, 172 by other members of society, 24 by the clergy and 127 by civil organizations. Worryingly, a sharp increase was observed compared with previous years.29 53. Since 2016, members of ultranationalist and far-right groups have emerged forcefully in the public sphere, using hate speech against members of minorities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse persons. These groups are actively using social media to spread their phobic hate propaganda against the community, and to blackmail or launch violent online attacks against individuals. There is little evidence of a comprehensive State strategy to address cyberbullying, hate speech and online threats against minorities. 54. To date, the legislative framework regulating hate speech fails to explicitly prohibit hatred based on sexual orientation or gender identity and, despite several codes of conduct restricting hate speech in the media 30 and the creation of self-regulatory mechanisms, homophobia remains the type of hate speech most recorded in 2017 in media outlets, with 255 such comments revolving around the myth of “propaganda for homosexuality” and equating homosexuality with perversion and paedophilia.31 55. In December 2018, the Code of Ethics for Members of Parliament was adopted, which prohibits degrading, obscene, sexist and discriminatory statements and actions and the use of hate speech. If parliamentarians violate the Code, a recommendation is made to them, and their name and a brief description of the violation are published on the parliamentary website. The Independent Expert welcomes the adoption of the Code but regrets that the mechanism envisaged to address the violations does not seem to have been effective to date. 29 30 31 See Media Development Foundation, “Hate speech” (2018), available from www.mdfgeorgia.ge/eng/view-library/91. The Code of Conduct for Broadcasters, the Code of Conduct of the Georgian Public Broadcaster and the Charter of Journalistic Ethics. See Media Development Foundation, “Hate speech”. 11