The above figures include the offences of incitement to hatred, defamation, and discrimination/violation of equality, all of which fall outside the OSCE's definition of hate crime.
In May and June 2023, the Police Administration in Niš co-operated with the OSCE Mission to Serbia to train the heads of police stations and regional police departments on crime prevention, community policing and the implementation of prevention projects in line with the Beccaria standards. A similar training event was also held in Vrnjačka Banja.
In October 2023, a representative of the Police Administration participated in a Regional Seminar on Police Action in Diverse Societies. The seminar was the first in a series of activities planned within two joint projects of the European Union and the Council of Europe on promoting equality and combating racism in the region.
The Police introduced Mobile Information Centres to improve communication with the public and help identify priority security issues. In 2023, the Mobile Information Centres operated in 117 cities and municipalities, allowing police officers to provide the public with information on how to exercise their rights, offer security tips, and present the work of the police with the aim of improving communication and increasing the availability of the police.
ODIHR recognizes Serbia's efforts to regularly report hate crime data to ODIHR and build the capacity of prosecutors to address hate crime. However, based on the available information, it observes that Serbia’s recording and statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes, and that law enforcement agencies of Serbia have not recorded the bias motivations of hate crimes. In addition, ODIHR observes that Serbia would benefit from raising awareness among and building the capacity of police to address hate crime.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, participating States have agreed to a definition of hate crime shared by all OSCE participating States, and committed to collecting reliable data and statistics on hate crimes. To that end, hate crimes need to be distinguished from hate speech, discrimination crimes throughout the recording and data collection process. To ensure that the motives of perpetrators are acknowledged, the law enforcement must, as a first step, record the bias motivation of hate crimes. 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 Serbia in meeting its relevant commitments through the provision of comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of hate crime reporting, as well as by providing further resources and tailored capacity-building assistance for police, prosecution, and judiciary.
🛈 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.