Action plan to fight against hate crimes

Organisation

Hate Crimes National Office (Oficina Nacional de Lucha contra los Delitos de Odio).

Start and end date

Start date:

January 2019.

End date:

April 2021.

Scope

National.

Target group(s)

Security forces.

Funding

Ministry of the Interior.

Objectives

• Training of security forces.
• Prevent hate incidents and crimes and improve the response to these types of incidents and crimes.
• Attention to victims` rights.

Outputs

• Publicity campaign on reporting hate crimes.
• Incorporation of information from the action plan in the curricula of the National Police and Guardia Civil academies (both access academies and academies for internal promotion to other police roles).
• Participation in initiatives on the traceability of hate crime complaints, in collaboration with other organisations.
• Preparation and dissemination of annual hate crimes reports.
• Creation of a common database on the symbols of radical groups (homophobic, racist, antisemitic, anti-Muslim, etc.).

Description

This action plan is based on the constitutional concept of an active state (Article 9.2), which, through its public policies, tries to remove the obstacles that impede the development of people under equal conditions and with equal opportunities. It implies awareness of the real possibility that different sectors of the population have access or not to social, cultural and economic goods, public services, private services, the constitution of social and cultural relations with the community, and participation in political processes.

The action plan has four main axes or lines of action, which have the following overall objective: a firm and rigorous response to hate incidents and hate crimes that increases preventative and investigative capacities and improves the quality of care for victims, as a result of police forces being better trained and prepared to deal with such hateful behaviour.

Critical success factors

• Drafting of the action plan in collaboration with civil society.
• The commitment of all actors involved.
• Increased awareness of problems in this area.

Actors involved in the design and implementation of the practice

With regard to preparation of the action plan, a meeting was held with representatives of all the main organisations at national level. The Hate Crimes National Office explained that it wanted to draw up an action plan. At the meeting, the development phases were explained and civil society organisations asked for written input. Based on these exchanges, the action plan was drafted.

Monitoring and evaluation

Follow-up commissions have been set up with the participation of civil society organisations and representatives of other ministries.

Publicly available contact details

Hate Crimes National Office (Oficina Nacional de Lucha contra los Delitos de Odio (mir.es))