The data below include cases that fall outside the OSCE definition of a hate crime, but which could not be disaggregated from the total number.
In 2024, the Assembly of the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which prescribes the new criminal offence of "Public Provocation and Incitement of Violence and Hatred" (Article 355a of the Criminal Code of the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina).
From 2022 to 2024, representatives of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs actively participated in preparing a report together with ODIHR, which included recommendations on understanding and improving the recording of criminal acts committed out of hatred in Republika Srpska. This co-operation concluded in March 2024. The report highlighted varying levels of development in the information systems used to record and report hate crimes, which has hindered the country's ability to adequately report and present the actual situation concerning hate-related incidents.
Police officers of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs participate in training events organized by international partners. In 2024, four hate crime trainings organized by the OSCE were held, during which over 20 police officers were trained.
Additionally, Bosnian authorities implement a project on "Promotion of Diversity and Equality in Bosnia and Herzegovina" in cooperation with the Council of Europe and within the framework of the joint programme on "Horizontal facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey II", financed by the EU and the Council of Europe. As part this project, the authorities are developing an "Action plan for the equality of LGBTI persons in Bosnia and Herzegovina", while also mapping responses to hate speech in the country.
ODIHR recognizes Bosnia and Herzegovina's efforts to report hate crime information and statistics to ODIHR. However, based on the available information, ODIHR observes that the country's mechanisms for recording hate crime data and statistics do not sufficiently distinguish hate crimes from other crimes, while the number of officially recorded hate crimes is low. In addition, ODIHR observes that Bosnia and Herzegovina would benefit from raising awareness among and building the capacity of criminal justice officials, in particular prosecutors and judges, to address hate crimes.
ODIHR recalls that in Ministerial Council Decisions 9/09 and 12/04, OSCE participating States committed to collecting reliable data and statistics on hate crimes. States also committed to taking appropriate measures to encourage victims to report hate crimes, including through co-operation with civil society, and to make use of all reliable information available. This can be addressed by introducing a robust system for recording hate crimes, as well as initiatives to encourage victims to report such crimes. ODIHR further recalls that in Ministerial Council Decision 9/09, participating States 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 Bosnia and Herzegovina in meeting the relevant commitments through its comprehensive resources and tailored assistance in the area of hate crime recording and data collection, as well as by providing further resources and tailored capacity-building assistance for police, prosecution, and judiciary.
For 2024, ODIHR received reports of hate incidents in Bosnia and Herzegovina from the following civil society organizations:
- Balkan Investigative Reporting Network in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIRN BiH)
- Center for Education and Research (Nahla)
- European Association of Jehovah's Witnesses
- Sarajevo Open Center (SOC)
To learn more about these organizations, visit the Contributors page.
In addition, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina reported hate incidents based on its ongoing monitoring.
All incidents submitted by the above organizations have been analysed by ODIHR. Those that were broadly considered to be hate crimes within the OSCE definition (criminal offence committed with a bias motive) are listed in the tables below according to the bias motivation category. Some incidents involved multiple biases and may be listed in multiple categories.
ODIHR’s insightsFor 2024, ODIHR received reports of 88 incidents that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the following bias motivation categories: anti-Christian, anti-LGBTI, anti-Muslim, and racist and xenophobic. In addition, several incidents involved multiple bias motivations, including racist and xenophobic and anti-Christian, and racist and xenophobic and anti-Muslim. ODIHR observes that the anti-Christian incidents reported mostly involved damage to cemeteries or memorial sites. Most of the anti-LGBTI incidents reported targeted gay men. In several of these incidents, victims were threatened and blackmailed via a dating app, and in other incidents the perpetrators were members of the victim’s family or the incidents took place in a school setting. Of the racist and xenophobic incidents reported, around half were incidents of damage to property targeting individuals and their businesses or homes. Several incidents of xenophobic vandalism and graffiti in public places were also noted. Other racist incidents involved physical attacks targeting those of a different ethnicity to the perpetrator. In many cases, racist incidents also intersected with anti-Christian or anti-Muslim bias. It should be noted that ODIHR did not receive any reporting relating to anti-Roma, anti-Semitic, other religion or belief, gender-based or disability hate incidents in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This indicates potential gaps in the information reported here. |
Please note that incidents reported here are based on voluntary civil society submissions and as such might not reflect the actual number of incidents or the most targeted communities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
To address under-reporting, ODIHR encourages any civil society organizations or groups that monitor hate incidents to report these to ODIHR at hatecrimereport@odihr.pl.
To export an Excel sheet with summaries of all incidents from Bosnia and Herzegovina click here and search by year and country.