Violence against members of minorities and others (15) The Committee expresses concern about incitement and acts of violence against persons belonging to ethnic and national minorities, including acts against Roma, anti-Semitic attacks, and violence against persons of African and Asian origin and non-citizens, as well as with persistent allegations of failure to investigate and reluctance on the part of the police and authorities to provide adequate protection to the victims or to conduct prompt, impartial and effective investigations of such reports. The State party should ensure prompt, impartial and effective investigations into all ethnically motivated violence and discrimination, including that directed against Roma, Jews, persons of African and Asian origin and non-citizens, and prosecute and punish perpetrators with penalties appropriate to the nature of their acts. The State party should also publicly condemn hate crimes and other violent acts of racial discrimination, xenophobia and related violence and should work to eradicate incitement and any role public officials or law enforcement personnel might have in such violence. It should ensure that officials are held accountable for actions or failures to act which breach the Convention. The State party should give prompt consideration to expanding the recruitment into law enforcement of persons belonging to ethnic and national minorities. The State party should also develop and adopt a comprehensive governmental programme addressing the human rights situation of national minorities, especially the Roma. Violence in the armed forces (16) While welcoming the decrease in the number of cases of hazing in the armed forces (dedovshchina) and the measures taken to prevent such phenomena, including the establishment of a “hotline”, the Committee remains concerned at the persistence of cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the armed forces, as well as with the lack of investigation of all reported cases. The State party should take effective measures to eradicate the prevalent problem of hazing in the armed forces (dedovshchina), reinforce the measures of prevention and ensure prompt, impartial and effective investigation, prosecution and conviction of the perpetrators of such abuses, and report publicly on the results of any such prosecutions. Harassment and violence against members of civil society (17) The Committee expresses its concern at information it has received on harassment and violence against journalists, including murders (e.g. the case of Mr. Georgiy Gongadze), and against human rights defenders, which severely hamper the role of the mass media and freedom of opinion and expression, as well as the monitoring activities of civil society with regard to human rights. The State party should take all necessary steps to ensure that all persons, including those monitoring human rights, are protected from any intimidation or violence as a result of their activities, and ensure the prompt, impartial and effective investigation of such acts. Penitentiary system (18) The Committee notes with concern the delay in transferring the Department for the Execution of Punishments to the authority of the Ministry of Justice. The State party should complete the transfer of the Department for the Execution of Punishments to the Ministry of Justice as soon as possible, with the aim of institutionalizing oversight and accountability for executive decisions in the judicial branch of government. 83