Publications

Coalition building is about individual organizations amplifying their voices by working together. Anti-Semitism, intolerance and discrimination are deeply embedded across the OSCE region and addressing them requires the combined efforts of many communities and organizations. It cannot be accomplished in any large measure by just one group acting on its own. By bringing together groups with different skills, experiences, resources and connections, coalitions can be a powerful ways to bring about large-scale, enduring changes to address issues of discrimination. ODIHR’s new guide offers community leaders and civil society organizations in the OSCE region a human rights-based approach and practical basis for building successful coalitions aimed at addressing discrimination and fostering more tolerant and peaceful societies. By providing multiple resources and good practices, tips for gender mainstreaming and step-by-step instructions, this guide serves as a starting point not only for civil society organizations and communities setting out to create successful coalitions that strengthen responses to intolerance and discrimination, but for all members of civil society who wish to create coalitions to advance their goals.

This manual on joint hate crime training for police and prosecutors was developed as part of a project by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on building a comprehensive criminal justice response to hate crime. This publication is intended for use in the Bulgarian

A new UNESCO and ODIHR co-publication takes up the challenge of educating learners to resist contemporary anti-Semitism at a time when the issue is becoming ever more crucial around the world. It suggests concrete ways to address anti-Semitism, counter prejudice and promote tolerance through education, by designing programmes based on a human rights framework, global citizenship education, inclusiveness and gender equality. It also provides policymakers with tools and guidance to ensure that education systems build the resilience of young people to anti-Semitic ideas and ideologies, violent extremism and all forms of intolerance and discrimination, through critical thinking and respect for others.

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.

This publication examines the effectiveness of the national programs and measures for the employment of persons with disabilities. It does so through a step-by-step analysis of the legal, policy, institutional and infrastructural framework, focusing on the outcomes, effects and results of each, as well as on their joint overall impact. The conclusions and recommendations, in line with the obtained data, as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Council Directive 2000/78/EC for Equal Treatment in Employment and Occupation, provide an outline for undertaking future steps in order to increase the overall inclusion of persons with disabilities in the open labour market. The publication is not available in English.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has continuously worked on countering hate crime by strengthening the role of criminal justice systems in addressing this phenomenon. The two-year project “Building a Comprehensive Criminal Justice Response to Hate Crime” will use tailored, innovative approaches at national levels as a laboratory and source of inspiration for transnational solutions.

The publication gives an overview of both domestic and European legislation on the admissibility and use of actio popularis mechanism, the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union as well as the practice of the region. This publication also provides insight on the specific methodology for use of actio popularis, in order to provide proper guidance for citizen associations in terms of the cases and ways they should use this mechanism.

This publication includes case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in relation to hate crimes and hate speech cases. This collection analyzes cases when it comes to speech that incited hatred with particular reference to the case-law of some of the extreme forms of speech that were problematized before the ECtHR. The purpose of this collection is through brief comments on the most interesting judgments and decisions on hate speech and hate crimes, to clarify the standards that the Court has set before the States Parties to the Convention. Not available in English.

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.

This study was commissioned by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). It explores how different types of Jews perceive, experience and respond to anti-Semitism, with a particular focus on three areas: gender, age and religiosity.