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The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in cooperation with the Faculty of Criminal Justice, Criminology and Security Studies at the University of Sarajevo and in partnership with the OSCE Office in Albania and OSCE missions in Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and Skopje, organized A conference on hate crimes in South East Europe.

The conference was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016 in Sarajevo. For this conference, organized by a public competition, 60 abstracts have been received by experts, representatives of institutions, associations and organizations dealing with issues of hate crimes. The expert commission accepted 30 abstracts, the authors of which submitted the works. After review by the expert commission, 12 works for publication in the Proceedings from this conference were selected, while 8 papers were selected for presentation at the conference.

Among the selected works is the work of the president of the association “Monitor” doc. Dr. Aleksandar R. Ivanović, done in co-authorship with prof. Dr. Lars Petter Soltvedt, Associate Professor of Political Science and Human Rights at the University College of South East Norway, on the topic: “Impact of the economic crisis on the appearance of hate crimes in the countries of the former Yugoslavia”.

At the opening ceremony of the conference, the participants addressed prof. Dr. Nedžad Korajlić, Dean of the Faculty of Criminology, Criminology and Security Studies at the University of Sarajevo, Fermin Cordoba, Head of the Human Dimension Department of the OSCE Mission to BiH, Francesco De Sanctis, Head of the Rule of Law Section of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Joan Peri, co-chairing the International Network for the Study of Hate Crimes.

Participants of the conference pointed out that hate crime in South Eastern Europe has many common features and patterns, such as similar legal frameworks and groups of victims, but also the problem of non-reporting of cases and the reduction of the importance of incidents motivated by hatred.

At the same time, it is estimated that the impact of such incidents in the countries of the region is very frequent, which requires action at the regional level and a sufficient degree of regional synergy. The idea of leading the discussion today, combining academic and practical attitudes about how to understand and interpret this phenomenon and its impact on society in the best way, was to overcome the lack of relevant literature on hate crimes in the region – said Fermin Cordoba, Head of the Human Dimension Department of the OSCE Mission to BiH.
John Perry, Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of the International Network for the Study of Hate Crimes, emphasized that the regional focus of this conference is particularly significant, bearing in mind that the literature on hate crimes usually dominates Anglo-American views. Professors, policy makers and civil society organizations face specific challenges in creating nationally and regionally relevant concepts and strategies for understanding and dealing with hate and hate crimes – said Peri. She emphasized that gatherings such as this encourage creative thinking and more active action in the fight against hate crimes as one of the great challenges of our time.

Marija Lučić-Ćatić, a professor at the Faculty of Criminology, Criminology and Security Studies at the University of Sarajevo, said that this conference served as an excellent platform for the exchange of scientific and professional experiences. Thanks to its multidimensionality, the discussion offered effective mechanisms to combat this phenomenon, which can serve as a basis for the improvement of existing models of reaction to this extremely dangerous social phenomenon – says Lučić-Ćatić.

It is hoped that these research works will help professional workers in the region to deal adequately with the issues of hate crimes, but also to encourage further academic debate on how to best deal with this phenomenon.