Cyprus | HCRW

Cyprus has regularly reported hate crime data to ODIHR since 2018. In February 2022, the Cyprus Police and Ministry of Interior organized a workshop on understanding and improving hate crime recording and data collection in co-operation with ODIHR and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. The workshop was based on ODIHR's Information Against Hate Crimes Toolkit (INFAHCT), and resulted in a set of recommendations to relevant state authorities.

Hate crime data for each year are collected and published online by the Cyprus Police and its Human Rights and Combating Discrimination Office.

In 2017, the Cyprus Police signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights with 14 civil society organizations. The purpose of the Memorandum is to further improve and deepen co-operation between the parties for the protection and promotion of human rights.

SELECT YEAR

Download the 2023 hate crime report for Cyprus

OFFICIAL DATA REPORTED BY STATES

Year	Hate crimes recorded by police	Prosecuted	Sentenced
2023	57	32	17
2022	32	10	4
2021	33	Not available	Not available
2020	41	7	0
2019	40	6	0
2018	30	3	0
2017	Not available	Not available	Not available
2016	Not available	Not available	Not available
2015	Not available	Not available	Not available
2014	Not available	Not available	Not available
2013	Not available	Not available	Not available
2012	12	7	0
2011	15	13	2
2010	34	32	18
2009	8	16	3

About 2023 Data

Hate crime recorded by police

In the breakdown below, more than one motivation and more than one criminal offence can be recorded for a single incident; therefore, the total number below exceeds that of the recorded incidents presented above. The data below may also include incidents of hate speech, which fall outside the OSCE definition of hate crime

By bias motivation
By type of crime

Download official data

National developments

The Cyprus Police has appointed two officers from each District Department with experience in investigative duties to act as liaison officers with the Legal Department and the Human Rights and Combating Discrimination Office of the Police. In total, there are 12 liaison officers responsible for co-ordinating and supervising the investigation of complaints concerning incidents or cases of discrimination, racism and/or racist motives or other related hate crimes. The liaison officers also ensure that the Police's Human Rights and Combating Discrimination Office is immediately informed about incidents or offences related to discrimination, while also working with relevant civil servants and civil society organizations to report and record racist incidents and support victims of such crimes, among other measures.

The Cyprus Police has developed a form to record incidents with a racist motive or other related hate offences. The form must be completed by the officer receiving the complaint, and then sent to the Liaison Officer of the District Department responsible for monitoring anti-discrimination issues in the District. The form is subsequently forwarded to the Human Rights and Combating Discrimination Office for statistical purposes.

Police Standing Order No. 3/38, 'Management of Offences and Anti-Discrimination Issues', was revised in October 2023 to include bias indicators and provisions for the protection of victims. In particular, when handling hate crime cases, police officers are required to:
(a)    recognize and treat the victim with respect, sensitivity, and an individualized, professional and non-discriminatory approach;
(b)    ensure that victims can exercise their rights without discrimination on any grounds, including sex, race, colour, language, disability, religion, sexual orientation, political or other opinion, national or social origin, membership of an ethnic minority, birth or any other status of the victim;
(c)    inform victims of their rights; and
(d)    take into account the needs of victims.

The Cyprus Police has prepared a handbook entitled "Human Rights Handbook", which includes a separate chapter on combating racism, xenophobia and intolerance. The purpose of the manual is to inform and raise awareness among members of the police about human rights. The manual is uploaded on the internal portal of the police and was designed, printed and disseminated in 2022.

KEY OBSERVATION

ODIHR recognizes the efforts of Cyprus to improve their police hate crime recording methodology and to ensure the sensitive treatment of hate crime victims. However, based on the available information, it observes that Cyprus' hate crime recording and statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes. In addition, ODIHR observes that Cyprus would benefit from raising awareness among and building the capacity of criminal justice officials to address hate crime.

ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, OSCE participating States committed to periodically reporting reliable information and statistics on hate crimes to ODIHR. Participating States also committed to introducing or further developing professional training and capacity-building activities for law enforcement, prosecution and judicial officials dealing with hate crimes. ODIHR stands ready to support Cyprus in meeting its relevant commitments through the provision of comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of hate crime recording and data collection, as well as by providing further resources and capacity-building assistance for its police, prosecutors, and the judiciary.

Our methodology

🛈 Please note that the data in the charts above are based on voluntary civil society submissions and as such might not be representative of the actual number of incidents affecting individual communities.

🛈 Please note that the total number of incidents may be lower than the sum of incidents presented in the breakdown chart above, as some incidents involve multiple bias motivations.

🛈 ODIHR no longer presents descriptions of property attacks in the incident tables below. Data on property attacks are presented in the breakdown charts above. One property attack may target multiple properties or involve multiple types of attack.

🛈 Please note that the total number of incidents may be lower than the sum of incidents presented in the breakdown chart above, as some incidents involve multiple bias motivations.

Racist and xenophobic hate crime

Date	Type of incident	Source	Description
2023-09	Violent attacks against people	UNHCR	Show info
2023-06	Violent attacks against people	UNHCR	Show info
2023-02	Violent attacks against people	Human Rights Platform	Show info
2023-09	Violent attacks against people	UNHCR	Show info
2023-08	Violent attacks against people	UNHCR	Show info

Gender-based hate crime

Date	Type of incident	Source	Description
2023-02	Violent attacks against people	Human Rights Platform	Show info

Anti-LGBTI hate crime

Date	Type of incident	Source	Description
2023-06	Violent attacks against people	Human Rights Platform	Show info
2023-03	Violent attacks against people	Human Rights Platform	Show info
2023-02	Violent attacks against people	UNHCR	Show info

INTERNATIONAL REPORTS

No information is available.