OSCE/ODIHR workshop in Belgrade focuses on improving identification and reporting of hate crimes against Muslims

Strengthening the ability of civil society groups to identify and report hate crimes was the focus of an event held by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Belgrade from 14 to 16 December 2017.

The workshop brought together 21 participants from across South-Eastern Europe. The 11 men and 10 women who took part raised their awareness of the specific nature of hate crimes targeting Muslims and learned how to cascade their knowledge across their networks.

"As the data published by ODIHR shows year after year, Muslims continue to be targets of hate crimes across the OSCE region,” said Dermana Seta, ODIHR Adviser on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims. “Identifying hate crime through recording and reporting efforts is the first step towards enabling civil society and governments to develop effective responses to such crimes. This workshop will be instrumental in these efforts, as it will help create a group of trainers dedicated to identifying hate crimes against Muslims, who can then share this knowledge with their peers."

Mersiha Smajlovik from the Legis NGO in Skopje said: “This type of training is very important, as it helps us enhance the way we monitor and collect data on hate incidents and other cases of discrimination and intolerance. Speaking openly and identifying the challenges that we face in our monitoring and reporting processes will improve the precision of our work and shape our prevention efforts.”

The workshop follows the publication of ODIHR’s hate crime data for 2016. ODIHR’s reporting indicates that hate crimes in the OSCE area, specifically those motivated by bias against Muslims, remain under-reported.