OSCE/ODIHR trains Ukraine’s law enforcement officers on countering hate crime

To strengthen their response to hate crime, 46 trainers and law enforcement officers from Ukraine took part in a training-of-trainers event, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 19-21 January 2016 in Odesa. The training is part of ODIHR’s Training Against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme, and within the framework of ODIHR’s project on “Promoting Security for Religious Communities and Others in the Regions of Ukraine”.

The training allowed the participants to become acquainted with the concept of hate crime, as well as relevant legislation, strategies for investigation and responding to these crimes, and discussed the necessary skills for training cadets and police officers. The goal of the training was to prepare the participants to share this knowledge with their peers.

"The training is not only about passing knowledge and building on skills, but also about changing attitudes among trainees," said Larry Olomofe, Adviser on Combating Racism and Xenophobia at ODIHR.

One of the aims of the project is to build capacity of law enforcement and relevant state institutions on freedom of religion or belief and hate crime.

TAHCLE is based on the premise that dealing effectively with hate crimes involves police as proactive agents of change. It draws on the OSCE participating States’ experiences in confronting hate crimes and the achievements of law enforcement agencies in addressing the problem. The programme has been implemented in the participating States of Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Poland.