TOLERANCE AND NON-DISCRIMINATION
Participants at the trainingof-trainers event as part
of the Training Against
Hate Crimes for Law
Enforcement (TAHCLE)
programme, in Warsaw,
Poland on 24 July. OSCE/
Murat Gungor
Thirty-six participating States submitted information
for the Hate Crime Reporting website during the
2013 cycle, along with 109 civil society organizations covering incidents in 45 countries. Information
on specific countries also includes key observations
prepared by ODIHR based on the commitments on
hate crime collection made by participating States.
These recommendations can draw governments’
attention to potential gaps in their hate crime data
collection, and help them help identify areas for
improvement.
Under-reporting remains a key challenge. Many victims do not come forward to report hate crimes.
This happens for a number of reasons, ranging
from language barriers to mistrust in the authorities
or fear of reprisals. ODIHR works closely with c
ivil
society to overcome this challenge and promote
and assist co-operation between civil society and
governments.
In 2014, ODIHR published
Hate Crime Data Collection
and Monitoring: A Practical
Guide, which raises awareness of the importance of
recording hate crimes. Written in co-operation with
national experts, partner
international organizations
and civil society groups responsible for monitoring
hate crimes, the guide offers 10 practical steps on
how participating States can design comprehensive
responses to strengthen their hate crime reporting
capacities.
ODIHR’s hate crime reporting website relies on information reported by participating States. Much
of this work is done through National Points of
Contact on Hate Crime (NPC), appointed by their
respective governments. As part of ongoing efforts
to support NPCs in their role, ODIHR arranged its
annual NPC meeting in Vienna on 20 to 21 November 2014. Thirty-three participants attended from
30 countries.
During the meeting, NPCs exchanged information, challenges and good practice initiatives and
discussed the role of intergovernmental organizations with representatives from the EU Fundamental
Rights Agency (FRA), ODIHR, United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the
European Commission on Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) in supporting effective responses to
hate crime. They also mapped their approaches to
hate crime recording in the OSCE region, identifying their strengths and challenges. During the
meeting, NPCs agreed on a revised role description, which includes conducting training at the
national level and working with ODIHR to deliver
capacity-building activities throughout the OSCE
region, in addition to submitting information on
hate crimes and responses.
ODIHR Annual Report 2014
53
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