Kamerbrief inzake verslag Ministeriële Raad van de OVSE op 1-2 december te Athene
MC.D EC/9/09
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 2 December 2009
Ministerial Council
Athens 2009 Original: English
Second day of the Seventeenth Meeting
MC(17) Journal No. 2, Agenda item 8
DECISION No. 9/09
COMBATING HATE CRIMES
The Ministerial Council,
Reaffirming that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, democracy and
the rule of law is at the core of the OSCE comprehensive concept of security, and that
tolerance and non-discrimination are important elements in the promotion of human rights
and democratic values,
Reaffirming that manifestations of discrimination and intolerance threaten the security
of individuals and societal cohesion, and reiterating that they may give rise to conflict and
violence on a wider scale,
Concerned by hate crimes throughout the OSCE region and acknowledging the need
for co-operation to combat such crimes effectively, and taking note of the ODIHR report
entitled “Hate Crimes in the OSCE Region – Incidents and Responses”, as tasked by the
participating States,
Reaffirming the OSCE commitments on promoting tolerance and non-discrimination,
and acknowledging that the primary responsibility for addressing acts of intolerance and
discrimination rests with the participating States,
Acknowledging that hate crimes are criminal offences committed with a bias motive,
Taking note of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy adopted on
8 September 2006 by the UN General Assembly, which outlines a comprehensive global
approach towards countering terrorism by addressing not only its manifestations, but also the
conditions conducive to its spread, and recognizing the role hate crimes, discrimination and
intolerance can play in fuelling violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism,
Acknowledging the need for more consistent, comprehensive and comparable data on
hate crimes, highlighted inter alia in the ODIHR report,
Welcoming the work done by the ODIHR in providing assistance to participating
States, upon their request, in their efforts to address hate crimes,
Taking note of the 2009 Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Hate Crimes –
Effective Implementation of Legislation and of the second annual meeting of the National
Points of Contact on Combating Hate Crimes,
Recognizing that the global economic downturn may increase incidents of hate crimes
in the OSCE area,
Acknowledging that victims of hate crimes may belong to both minority and majority
communities,
Acknowledging the work of the three Personal Representatives of the
Chairman-in-Office in support of the overall OSCE effort to combat hate crimes and violent
manifestations of intolerance in accordance with their mandate,
Recognizing the instrumental role that political representatives can play in taking the
lead in combating intolerance and discrimination and promoting mutual respect and
understanding,
Calls on the participating States to:
1. Collect, maintain and make public, reliable data and statistics in sufficient detail on
hate crimes and violent manifestations of intolerance, including the numbers of cases
reported to law enforcement, the numbers prosecuted and the sentences imposed. Where
data-protection laws restrict collection of data on victims, States should consider methods for
collecting data in compliance with such laws;
2. Enact, where appropriate, specific, tailored legislation to combat hate crimes,
providing for effective penalties that take into account the gravity of such crimes;
3. Take appropriate measures to encourage victims to report hate crimes, recognizing
that under-reporting of hate crimes prevents States from devising efficient policies. In this
regard, explore, as complementary measures, methods for facilitating, the contribution of
civil society to combat hate crimes;
4. Introduce or further develop professional training and capacity-building activities for
law-enforcement, prosecution and judicial officials dealing with hate crimes;
5. In co-operation with relevant actors, explore ways to provide victims of hate crimes
with access to counselling, legal and consular assistance as well as effective access to justice;
6. Promptly investigate hate crimes and ensure that the motives of those convicted of
hate crimes are acknowledged and publicly condemned by the relevant authorities and by the
political leadership;
7. Ensure co-operation, where appropriate, at the national and international levels,
including with relevant international bodies and between police forces, to combat violent
organized hate crime;
8. Conduct awareness raising and education efforts, particularly with law enforcement
authorities, directed towards communities and civil society groups that assist victims of hate
crimes;
9. Nominate, if they have not yet done so, a national point of contact on hate crimes to
periodically report to the ODIHR reliable information and statistics on hate crimes;
10. Consider drawing on resources developed by the ODIHR in the area of education,
training and awareness raising to ensure a comprehensive approach to the tackling of hate
crimes;
11. Calls on the participating States to seek opportunities to co-operate and thereby
address the increasing use of the Internet to advocate views constituting an incitement to
bias-motivated violence including hate crimes and, in so doing, to reduce the harm caused by
the dissemination of such material, while ensuring that any relevant measures taken are in
line with OSCE commitments, in particular with regard to freedom of expression;
12. Tasks the ODIHR to explore, in consultations with the participating States and in
co-operation with relevant international organizations and civil society partners, the potential
link between the use of the Internet and bias-motivated violence and the harm it causes as
well as eventual practical steps to be taken;
13. Invites the Director of the ODIHR to keep the participating States informed about the
ODIHR’s work in assisting the participating States to combat hate crimes during his or her
regular reporting to the Permanent Council.
MC17ED09