Police experts take steps to combat hate crimes in the OSCE region

WARSAW, 18 April 2005 - Law enforcement experts from seven countries have developed a set of goals and methods for collecting data on hate crimes at a meeting in Warsaw. They were joined by experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the National Public Safety Strategy Group (NPSSG), a strategic training and development consortium.

"I warmly welcome this initiative, which I am sure will serve as an important tool for collecting reliable information and statistics on hate crimes," said Ambassador Christian Strohal, Director of the ODIHR. The Office has been mandated by the OSCE's 55 participating States to combat violent manifestations of racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance and is to serve as a collection point for information and statistics collected by OSCE participating States.

The experts agreed on elements of data collection related to hate crimes in the OSCE region. The initiative will also serve as a model for OSCE States that seek to expand or enhance their existing capacity for criminal data collection.

The ODIHR will work with participating States to secure consistent data collection across the OSCE region, with the aim of effectively and efficiently combating hate crimes.

Data on hate crimes can be used to identify where more resources are required, to allocate these resources to the areas of greatest need and to stem emerging problems. This data can also help to support individuals, groups and communities in dealing with hate crimes and their effects.

"This co-operation of law enforcement experts is an unprecedented effort to achieve expert-level consultation on the collection of hate crimes data resulting in a data collection template for all OSCE participating States. This is a significant step forward in establishing commonality of data on hate crimes across the OSCE region," said Paul Goldenberg, NPSSG President.