Background
The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) provides policerelated assistance to governments and civil society in OSCE participating States in close
co-operation with other OSCE executive structures and international organizations. In
2013, police-related activities were conducted in the following programmatic areas.
Human Rights Education
In 2013, ODIHR continued to promote the main principles set out in the ODIHR
Guidelines on Human Rights Education for Law Enforcement Officials. On 16
September, ODIHR was invited to the Basic Police Training Center in Sremska
Kamenica (Serbia) to present the Guidelines to police commanders and trainers.
Approximately 30 participants took part in discussions on a range of issues, including
methodologies for teaching human rights to police cadets, curriculum development and
the importance of fostering a climate of respect for human rights in training institutions
and police stations. Following the meeting, Training Centre personnel circulated a letter
to all the participants requesting feedback on how to improve the curricula used in the
Centre, as well as on training and education methods for human rights related issues.
In March, ODIHR received a letter from the Head of the National Human Rights Institute
of Chile expressing their appreciation for the Guidelines and requesting permission to
translate the document into Spanish so that it may be used towards reforming police
training in Chile.
Freedom of Peaceful Assembly
The policing of assemblies was the main focus of a roundtable meeting held in Vienna on
1 and 2 July, organized jointly by the TNTD/SPMU and ODIHR. The roundtable brought
together police officers from Croatia, Italy, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Serbia, Spain,
Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, as well as civil society
representatives. Participants discussed findings and recommendations formulated in
ODIHR's assembly monitoring report Monitoring of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly in
Selected OSCE Participating States. Police representatives shared their approaches to
public order issues during the policing of assemblies and engaged in dialogue with civil
society representatives.
Human Rights, Gender and Security (HRGS)
On 24 September, ODIHR, in co-operation with the OSCE Gender Section and DCAF,
organized a side event on “Gender and Police Oversight” on the margins of the Human
Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) in Warsaw. The discussion focused on the
internal and external mechanisms that exist, or should exist, within police structures in
order to ensure that grievances filed by policewomen and policemen are properly
addressed. Such mechanisms are especially important in police institutions where the
presence of female officers is increasing. Speakers from DCAF and the Independent
Police Complaints Commission of England and Wales explained that grievances filed by
women usually concerned gender-based discrimination in pay and advancement, the
curtailment of job-related benefits and rights, including maternity leave, and the absence
of policies or procedures to protect female officers against sexual harassment or assault
at work. In addition, external or internal oversight could and should address the manner
in which the police engage in the everyday security needs of women in the community,
including violence against women. A total of 60 participants (40 women and 20 men),
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