The records below may include cases of hate speech, which falls outside of the OSCE's definition of hate crime. Detailed data on bias motivations are not available.
This category includes two offences motivated by the bias against sexual orientation.
The records submitted to ODIHR include the following offences, some of which may fall outside of the OSCE's hate crime definition: (i) two offences of causing hatred, discord or intolerance on national, racial, religious or any other discriminatory ground (Article 319 of the Criminal Code); (ii) 41 offences of dissemination of racist and xenophobic material via computer systems (Article 394g, par. 1 of the Criminal Code); (iii) six offences of endangering security (Article 144 §4 of the Criminal Code); (iv) one offence of abuse of personal data (Article 149 §2 of the Criminal Code); and (v) two offences of damage to object of others (Article 243 §2 of the Criminal Code).
The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published relevant recommendations in its "Final report on North Macedonia adopted on 29 June 2023 by ECRI at its 92nd plenary meeting (27-30 June 2023)".
ODIHR recognizes North Macedonia's efforts to build the capacity of police and prosecutors to address hate crimes effectively. However, based on the available information, it observes that North Macedonia has not reported data on hate crimes recorded by prosecution and judiciary to ODIHR, as well as that law enforcement agencies have not recorded the bias motivations behind hate crimes and that statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes. In addition, ODIHR observes that North Macedonia would benefit from continuing to raise awareness among and build the capacity of criminal justice officials to address hate crime.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, OSCE participating States have agreed to a definition of hate crime shared by all OSCE participating States, and have committed to collecting reliable data and statistics in sufficient detail on hate crimes, and to reporting such data periodically to ODIHR. Participating States have 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 North Macedonia 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 further resources and tailored capacity-building assistance for police, prosecution, and judiciary.
🛈 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.