Cyprus

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 by the Cyprus Police and its Office for Combating Discrimination and published online.

SELECT YEAR

OFFICIAL DATA

Year	Hate crimes recorded by police	Prosecuted	Sentenced
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 2021 Data

The numbers presented here include hate speech offences, which fall outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime.

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 and, therefore, the number below exceeds that of the recorded incidents presented above.

By bias motivation
By type of crime

Download official data

National developments

In 2021, the Human Rights and Combating Discrimination Office of the Cyprus Police co-operated with ODIHR and the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) to organize a workshop on understanding and improving hate crime recording and data collection, held in February 2022. The workshop was based on ODIHR's Information Against Hate Crimes Toolkit (INFAHCT), and aimed to identify gaps in hate crime recording and data collection and to improve the relevant procedures and practices. Subsequently, ODIHR and FRA prepared a Report with a set of recommendations to be implemented by relevant state authorities. The Cyprus police has reviewed the report in order to begin implementing the recommendations, including procedural and structural changes in hate crime data collection.

A Working Group on enhancing inter-agency co-operation to address hate crime was formed. The Working Group is facilitated by ODHR and is made up of representatives of the Cyprus Police, the Ministry of Justice and Public Order of Cyprus, the Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus (Attorney General's Office), the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare of Cyprus, the Office of the Commissioner for Administration and Protection of Human Rights of Cyprus, the University of Cyprus, the CSO Hope For Children, the CSO Caritas Cyprus, and the CSO Cyprus Refugee Council. The Working Group was responsible for preparing a Memorandum of Understanding (an inter-agency protocol), signed by all members, on strengthening co-operation in the field of hate crime. The Memorandum was at the final stage of consultations when the 2021 Hate Crime Report was launched.

Furthermore, the Cyprus Police appointed 12 liaison officers – two per district department –responsible for: (i) co-ordinating and supervising the investigation of complaints concerning incidents of discrimination, racism and/or racist motives or other related hate crimes; (ii) ensuring that the Human Rights and Combating Discrimination Office of the Police is immediately informed about incidents or offences related to discrimination; and (iii) collaborating with officials of relevant state authorities or civil society organizations to report or record racist incidents and support victims of such crimes, etc.

The Cyprus Police has also prepared a form for reporting a racist offence. The form must be completed by every police officer who receives a complaint concerning any offence or incident committed with a racist motive. The form is then sent to the District Department's Liaison Officer responsible for monitoring anti-discrimination issues, who forwards it to the Human Rights and Combating Discrimination Office for statistical purposes. In addition, a questionnaire was disseminated among police officers to enable them to better identify hate crimes by asking specific questions to the victims.

KEY OBSERVATION

ODIHR recognizes the efforts of Cyprus to improve its hate crime recording and data collection processes, including the introduction of a co-ordination mechanism established through an inter-agency agreement. ODIHR also recognizes the information submitted on police records. However, based on the available information, it observes that Cyprus has not reported data on hate crimes recorded by the prosecution or judiciary to ODIHR. 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.

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