Responding to hate crimes and addressing the security needs of Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities: Bosnia and Herzegovina

Anti-Christian, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic hate crimes continue to pose a serious concern across the OSCE region. Bias-motivated attacks against individuals, places of worship, cemeteries and other sites of historical and religious significance can cause lasting harm to victims and communities, stoke fear and division and undermine social cohesion.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, religious communities continue to face manifestations of intolerance, particularly around days of religious significance and in areas where a given community is in the minority. These have included the desecration of religious facilities as well as physical and verbal attacks against religious personnel and believers.

ODIHR and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina are organizing a two-day event in Sarajevo to strengthen responses to anti-Christian, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic hate crimes and improve co-operation between law enforcement and religious communities on matters of safety and security.

This event is part of Pathways to Inclusion and Resilience, an ODIHR project funded by Canada, Italy and Finland.

The event will begin with a public segment highlighting the security needs of Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities and the practical measures authorities can take to address them.

It will present ODIHR’s three Practical Guides on:

• Understanding Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes and Addressing the Security Needs of Jewish Communities
• Understanding Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes and Addressing the Security Needs of Muslim Communities
• Understanding Anti-Christian Hate Crimes and Addressing the Security Needs of Christian Communities

The Guides set out practical steps governments can take, in co-operation and partnership with religious communities, to address hate crime and strengthen the security of communities at risk.

The public segment will be followed by a workshop bringing together representatives of Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities, law enforcement officials, civil society organizations and international experts.

Through panel discussions, case studies and facilitated group work, participants will examine current challenges in identifying and responding to anti-Christian, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic hate crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. They will also discuss ways to improve communication and co-operation between authorities and affected communities.

The event aims to:

• reinforce the commitment of relevant authorities to timely, effective and victim-centred responses to anti-Christian, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic hate crimes;
• raise awareness of ODIHR’s and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s work to prevent and respond to hate crime and address the security needs of communities at risk;
• explore the causes, drivers and characteristics of hate crimes targeting Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities in the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
• assess existing measures to identify, record and prosecute such crimes;
• strengthen contacts and co-operation between law enforcement and Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities; and
• identify practical measures to improve responses to hate crime and the security of affected communities.

Participation in the event is by invitation only.

The event will be held in English and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, with simultaneous interpretation.

For questions about the event, please contact Mikaela Christiansson, ODIHR's Adviser on Combating Racism and Xenophobia, at MikaelaChristiansson@odihr.pl.