Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina has reported hate crime data to ODIHR via the Ministry of Interior. There is no institutional system for recording and collecting hate crime data in the country. In co-operation with ODIHR and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the authorities of Republika Srpska have worked to improve hate crime recording and data collection through ODIHR's Information Against Hate Crimes Toolkit (INFAHCT) programme, including through a diagnostic workshop held in April 2022. Bosnia and Herzegovina has also co-operated with ODIHR and the OSCE Mission to train law enforcement officers and criminal justice professionals on hate crimes.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has launched a Gender Action Plan, 2023-2027. Hate crime prevention activities were included as part of the strategic implementation of the Action Plan.
OFFICIAL DATA REPORTED BY STATES
| Year | Hate crimes recorded by police | Prosecuted | Sentenced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 54 | 10 | 8 |
| 2022 | 42 | 8 | 6 |
| 2021 | 45 | 7 | 4 |
| 2020 | 8 | 8 | 5 |
| 2019 | 21 | 13 | 9 |
| 2018 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| 2017 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| 2016 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| 2015 | 24 | 12 | 3 |
| 2014 | 200 | 36 | 23 |
| 2013 | 350 | 77 | 88 |
| 2012 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| 2011 | Not available | Not available | Not available |
| 2010 | 19 | Not available | Not available |
| 2009 | 15 | Not available | Not available |
About 2015 Data
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The decrease in figures is due to a new method of reporting the recorded data. Official figures include incidents of hate speech.
Hate crime recorded by police
KEY OBSERVATION
INCIDENTS REPORTED BY CIVIL SOCIETY
INTERNATIONAL REPORTS
Racist and xenophobic hate crime
In its "Concluding observations on the ninth to eleventh periodic reports of Bosnia and Herzegovina", the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) highlighted the importance of fully implementing the existing criminal provisions on hate crimes and expressed concern at the continuation of hate crimes against minority returnees.
The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina reported that it continued its activities with law enforcement, the judiciary and civil society organizations, organizing four training events for a total of 80 prosecutors and judges, and two training events for a total of 46 law enforcement officers. Nineteen local Coalitions against Hate, established with the assistance of the Mission, implemented approximately 100 activities in the fields of prevention and education, including painting over offensive graffiti. The Mission continued its co-operation with the Sarajevo Open Centre (SOC) in implementing the two-year project Fighting Hate Crime in BiH. This project included six training events for a total of 155 police officers on hate crimes and another for 24 judicial and prosecutorial trainees. The Mission also continued to support its online Super Citizens reporting tool and to publish reports in its Hate Monitor, a monthly infographic of the Mission’s hate crimes monitoring information. This tool presents the latest data on all known bias-motivated incidents and responses to these incidents by judicial agencies, local authorities and civil society throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.