OSCE Mission to BiH launches Hate Monitor to track hate crimes and responses
The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina launched on 29 October 2013 the Hate Monitor, a monthly infographic on the latest statistics and trends of hate crimes and bias-motivated incidents in BiH, and any responses to these incidents by government, civic or judicial actors.
The Hate Monitor illustrates a comprehensive set of data regarding hate crimes monitored by the Mission, in close co-operation with national counterparts, including the police, prosecutor’s offices and about 100 non-governmental organizations. The Hate Monitor records the number of hate crimes cases that are being processed by the judiciary, as well as the number of convictions and acquittals for such crimes. The data also includes victim characteristics, the types of incidents and the types of community responses that have taken place.
“The Hate Monitor as a source of information will contribute to increasing public awareness and knowledge of these incidents. We hope it will also encourage local authorities to respond appropriately and promptly, and assist in shaping policy decisions to tackle the identified trends,” said Ambassador Fletcher M. Burton, Head of the OSCE Mission to BiH.
Each month, the Hate Monitor will highlight one response or prevention effort by a community, to raise awareness and promote good practices in combating hate crimes. Burton added that this would help ensure greater accountability for these crimes.
The Mission’s report ‘Tackling Hate Crimes’ from 2012 indicated the lack of a comprehensive and systemic data collection mechanism in relation to hate crimes and bias-related incidents in BiH.
The Hate Monitor is available in English and Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian at https://www.osce.org/hatemonitorbih.