Combating Hate Crimes in the OSCE Region: An Overview of Statistics, Legislation, and National Initiatives

This report covers information received by participating States in response to a series of five Notes Verbales sent by the ODIHR in 2004, requesting relevant information relating to hate crimes, including statistics, legislation, and national initiatives.

The information reflected in the report covers that which was submitted prior to the OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism and Other Forms of Intolerance held in Cordoba in June 2005. Information received after this point will be incorporated into a subsequent report on hate crimes to be released in spring 2006.

Information on initiatives to monitor and combat hate crimes, if not included as a response to the Notes Verbales, will not be found in this report.

Subsequently, the report serves to illustrate the limited availability and quality of data submitted by participating States to the ODIHR and the continuing need for states to provide the necessary updated information on a periodic basis.

The submission of information on national initiatives is especially important in the context of the ODIHR's database on tolerance and non-discrimination, which will be used as a vehicle to disseminate lessons learned and best practices on combating hate crimes.