Anti-Semitism has affected Jewish communities for millennia, and found its most brutal expression in the Holocaust, during which millions of Jews were murdered. Despite the lesson of this horrific event, anti-Semitism continues to plague Jewish communities to this day, from conspiracy theories to violent attacks. Too often, this intolerance can morph into hate crimes against Jews. The impact of these crimes can be that Jewish individuals fear attending worship services, wearing religious attire or symbols, or abstain from identifying publicly as Jews either culturally or in religious identity. Anti-Semitism affects not only Jews, but society as a whole. Its existence underscores wider trends of intolerance towards other groups, and everyone has a role to play in countering thisand all forms of intolerance.
Christians of various denominations are targets of hate crime across the OSCE region. The nature of hate crimes against Christians ranges from attacks on property, including graffiti and vandalism, to physical assaults. This factsheet highlights how hate crimes affect Christians, and helps readers to effectively identify anti-Christian hate crimes. Only a strong response from all actors in societies can effectively challenge discrimination, intolerance and hate crimes against Christians.
Muslim communities across the OSCE region are the victims of rhetoric that often associates them with terrorism and extremism, or portrays the presence of Muslim communities as a threat to national identity. Muslims are often portrayed as a monolithic group, whose religion and culture are incompatible with the concepts of human rights and democracy. This intolerance, left unchecked, can enable a climate that fosters hate crime against Muslims, which is an attempt to isolate them from society. Only a strong response from all actors in society can effectively challenge discrimination, intolerance and hate crimes against Muslims.
Understanding Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes and Addressing the Security Needs of Jewish Communities: A Practical Guide [Brochure]
ODIHR’s new Guide lays out practical steps that governments are recommended to take to address the security needs of Jewish communities in co-operation and partnership with these same communities.
Understanding Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes and Addressing the Security Needs of Jewish Communities: A Practical Guide
This guide lays out practical steps that governments are recommended to take to address the security needs of Jewish communities in co-operation and partnership with these same communities. The guide is designed to help governments take stock of security risks and needs with the goal of improving the capacity of law-enforcement officials and institutions to address the security needs of Jewish communities. In addition, this guide deals with related issues, such as the problem of the underreporting and recording of anti-Semitic hate crimes.
People with disabilities are regularly the targets of hate crimes. These crimes remain widely unknown, hidden and misunderstood. Recognizing the magnitude of the problem is the first step in effectively countering these hate crimes.
This factsheet provides information on how to recognize and report hate crimes against people with disabilities. This is the first publication in a series that highlights how hate crime affects different groups.
Prosecutors and Hate Crimes Training (PAHCT) Programme Description
Prosecutors and Hate Crimes Training (PAHCT) is a programme designed to improve responses to hate crimes by prosecutors. PAHCT is tailored to the needs and experiences of each country in which it is used. This programme is short, compact and flexible. It is designed to be integrated into existing training efforts and to draw on local resources. The standard PAHCT curriculum is customized to the hate crime context of the implementing state and to the laws and criminal justice procedures. PAHCT is best applied in co-operation with national training institutions for prosecutors and prosecutorial authorities. PAHCT can be delivered as a training of trainers or through training sessions provided directly to prosecutors. The training of trainers lasts three days, while a typical course for prosecutors only takes one and a half days.
Prosecuting Hate Crimes: A Practical Guide was written in cooperation with the International Association of Prosecutors to improve the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes across the OSCE region. The guide is relevant to different legal systems and legislative frameworks and complements ODIHR’s Prosecutors and Hate Crime Training (PAHCT). This guide aims to explain the impact of hate crimes by highlighting their specific features compared with other crimes. It presents the most common issues that arise for prosecutors in dealing with these crimes, with an emphasis on evidence of bias motivation, which is the distinguishing factor in hate crimes.