A series of six workshops held across Kosovo on identifying, investigating and responding to hate crimes for 90 high-ranking Kosovo police officers including station commanders, regional deputy directors, and regional chiefs of operations concluded on 19 October 2012 in Ferizaj/Uroševac.

The workshops were organized by the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

“Hate crimes are defined as crimes motivated by intolerance towards victims’ characteristics, be those language, ethnicity or race, religious or political beliefs, or culture. As such they affect whole communities,” said Kirsten Joppe, Chief of the OSCE Mission’s Security Monitoring Section.

“Timely identification, investigation and finally prosecution of hate crimes are crucial to preventing their reoccurrence and escalation. All of this requires skills and strong commitment by the police and the judiciary.”

Since late 2011, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo has been training judges, prosecutors and front-line police officers on how to address hate crimes. In addition, an OSCE-developed course on combating hate crimes has been included in the basic police training delivered at the Kosovo Academy for Public Safety. 

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo is mandated with human rights protection and promotion, democracy and pubic safety sector development.