OSCE/ODIHR signs agreement in Skopje to implement training programme against hate crime

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's Ministry of Interior signed an agreement on 15 December 2014 to train local law enforcement officers in recognizing, understanding and investigating hate crimes.

The memorandum of understanding to implement ODIHR’s Training Against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme was signed by Mitko Cavkov, Director of the Bureau for Public Security, and ODIHR Director Michael Georg Link. The programme will be implemented in close co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Skopje.

"Police officers are often the first to respond to hate crimes. It is absolutely essential that they have the necessary training to properly investigate these crimes and ensure support to the victims," said Link. "This programme was developed specifically to provide police officers with the necessary skills to understand and confront hate crime. I commend the local authorities for their commitment to directly addressing intolerance and bias-motivated crimes.”

"The consequences of hate crimes are not harmful solely to the victim, but they echo through wider society to all representatives of that group. In order to have efficient and fast institutional responses in the fight against hate crimes, it is necessary for police officers, who are the first responders on the crime scene, to be trained in recognizing and adequately processing such criminal acts," said Mitko Cavkov, Director of the Bureau for Public Security. "By signing this agreement with ODIHR, our police officers’ expertise will rise to the level of their colleagues from the European countries and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will join other European countries that have already implemented this program.”

The agreement follows a number of training events on hate crimes for civil society, organized in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Skopje.  The TAHCLE programme, launched in 2011, provides tailor-made training for law enforcement officers. Six OSCE participating States have already signed-up to implement the programme: Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Montenegro, Poland and Ukraine.