Roma and Sinti issues ODIHR’s Contact Point on Roma and Sinti Issues (CPRSI) continued its work to promote good relations between the police and Roma and Sinti communities. On 29 November, CPRSI, in partnership with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova and the Roma National Center (RNC), launched the project “Building trust between Roma and Police” in the Republic of Moldova. The event took place in Chisinau and was attended by 45 participants including representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the State Chancellery, the Ombudsman Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, as well as various units from the Ministry of Internal Affairs including the Border Police, the Bureau of Statistics and the Police Academy. The event was followed by a training seminar for 35 police officers serving in communities with a significant Roma population. As part of the event, officers were introduced to the culture and traditions of Romani communities in an effort to deconstruct stereotypes and prejudices about them. The seminar offered information and insights on how police officers should communicate with civilians; how to conduct home visits; manage violence; engage in mediation; and cope with fear and stress in the context of policing in minority communities; as well as when and how to apply force. Hate Crime ODIHR continued to implement its “Training against Hate Crime for Law Enforcement” (TAHCLE) programme in OSCE participating States. In 2013, interest in TAHCLE increased significantly, as demonstrated by the signing of the Memoranda of Understanding by the Observatory for Security Against Discriminatory Acts (OSCAD) of Italy and by the Police Academy of Montenegro. ODIHR also received confirmations of interest from two additional participating States. Upon the invitation of the Association of European Police Colleges (AEPC), ODIHR organized a three-day ToT session on TAHCLE for trainers from the AEPC member police colleges. The session gathered 16 participants from eleven participating States and was held in Saint-Cyr-au-Mont-d’Or, France. Participants came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom. According to feedback from participants, the ToT session improved their skills in delivering a training session on hate crimes to their peers and police academy trainees. Most participants indicated that their understanding of prejudice, stereotypes and hate crime changed as a result of the training session. In Italy, ODIHR facilitated two meetings of the national implementation working group to customize the standard TAHCLE curriculum to the needs and requirements of the Italian State Police and Carabinieri forces. Together with the working group, ODIHR introduced modules on national legislation related to hate crimes and discrimination and reviewed the module on investigation to ensure its compliance with national and international practices. ODIHR also included modules on international obligations and commitments, as well as case studies and examples of hate crimes drawn from the local context. During the second working group meeting, participants agreed on the format of the initial TAHCLE workshops for 160 police and Carabinieri officers, which were planned for early 2014. In Montenegro, following the signing of a MoU and a needs assessment visit, ODIHR delivered a ToT session on hate crime to 16 police officers and trainers of the Montenegrin Police Academy. According to feedback from participants, the training session increased their capacity to recognize and investigate hate crime. In particular, participants were familiarized with the impact of hate crime and the necessity to protect 158