Cyprus

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.