Newsroom
Croatia signs memorandum of understanding with OSCE/ODIHR on fighting hate crime
DUBROVNIK 23 October 2006
DUBROVNIK, Croatia, 23 October 2006 - The Croatian Interior Ministry and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today signed a memorandum of understanding under which Croatia commits to institutionalize hate crime training within the existing national curriculum for police training.
Earlier this year, Croatia became the first country in the region to offer its police officers training in combating hate-motivated crimes. The police-training programme is a part of the OSCE's efforts to combat hate crime and is tailored to each country's specific circumstances.
"I commend the Croatian government for demonstrating a political willingness to transform its written commitments to fight intolerance and hate-motivated crimes into actions," said Ambassador Christian Strohal, Director of OSCE/ODIHR.
Marijan Benko, Police Director General in the Interior Ministry, said that Croatian Police was using all the human, technical and material resources in order to identify the perpetrators of the gravest criminal acts. The proof for that was the recent successful resolution of the double murder and a robbery in Djurdjevac.
"In order to maintain this level of efficiency, continuous education of our police officers is necessary, because only in that way we can successfully fight against all kinds of crime, including hate crimes," added Marijan Benko.
In the Memorandum of Understanding, the Croatian authorities and the OSCE/ODIHR commit to continue their co-operation regarding training of police officers both within Croatia and in other OSCE regions, and to engage Croatia's hate crime training experts in providing training and support to other OSCE participating States.
Earlier this year, Croatia became the first country in the region to offer its police officers training in combating hate-motivated crimes. The police-training programme is a part of the OSCE's efforts to combat hate crime and is tailored to each country's specific circumstances.
"I commend the Croatian government for demonstrating a political willingness to transform its written commitments to fight intolerance and hate-motivated crimes into actions," said Ambassador Christian Strohal, Director of OSCE/ODIHR.
Marijan Benko, Police Director General in the Interior Ministry, said that Croatian Police was using all the human, technical and material resources in order to identify the perpetrators of the gravest criminal acts. The proof for that was the recent successful resolution of the double murder and a robbery in Djurdjevac.
"In order to maintain this level of efficiency, continuous education of our police officers is necessary, because only in that way we can successfully fight against all kinds of crime, including hate crimes," added Marijan Benko.
In the Memorandum of Understanding, the Croatian authorities and the OSCE/ODIHR commit to continue their co-operation regarding training of police officers both within Croatia and in other OSCE regions, and to engage Croatia's hate crime training experts in providing training and support to other OSCE participating States.