Countering Hate Crime in Cyprus: Cooperation between National Stakeholders
When
Where
Organized by
Following an initial mapping of the hate crime landscape in the country, ODIHR and the Ombudsperson of Cyprus have partnered to organize an online consultative meeting with other relevant stakeholders working on this topic. The meeting will present the concept of inter-agency cooperation as well as good practices from across the OSCE region. It will also explore ways to counter hate crimes through enhanced collaboration between relevant stakeholders in Cyprus.
Why is it important?
Effective inter-agency communication and collaboration between all relevant institutions in a country is key to implementing OSCE commitments on addressing hate crimes. Law enforcement and criminal justice agencies as well as human rights institutions, such as equality bodies and Ombudsperson Offices, have a particularly important role to play in this regard. At the same time, successful inter-agency efforts require the contribution of civil society organizations (CSOs) as a vital partner in monitoring and reporting hate incidents, supporting victims and raising public awareness of the nature and scope of hate crime in the country.
Participants
The meeting will gather representatives from the:
- Ministry of Justice and Public Order
- Ministry of Interior, the Advocate General
- Judiciary
- University of Cyprus
- CSO representatives
Background
This consultative meeting is part of ODIHR’s project ‘Turning Words into Action to Address Intolerance’ (WiA).
OSCE participating States have adopted a range of commitments over the years to address hate crimes, including to pass legislation that provides for:
- Penalties that take into account the gravity of hate crimes
- taking action to address under-reporting
- introducing or further developing capacity-building activities for law enforcement, prosecution and judicial officials to prevent, investigate and prosecute hate crimes
Specifically, states have repeatedly committed themselves to collect, maintain and publicise reliable data on hate crimes across the criminal justice system, from the police to the courts.