Crimes involving the targeting of victims’ ethnic identity account for substantial proportions of hate crimes recorded by authorities internationally. Hate crimes involving religious bias are usually much fewer in number. However, there is a close association in Bosnia and Herzegovina between persons’ ethnic origins and their religious background.

BANJA LUKA, 3 July - Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Rick Holtzapple, visited Banja Luka on 2 and 3 July for meetings with representatives of Republika Srpska institutions, political parties and the media, reaffirming the Mission's commitment to dialogue and co-operation with stakeholders across Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It is important to know what is a hate crime. When a hate crime is committed, one or more perpetrators target the victim, which can be one or more people or property, because of a protected aspect of the victim's identity, such as religion or ethnicity, race, sexual orientation or disability. Similarly, a hate incident is an act of hostility motivated by prejudice or bias that does not necessarily reach the threshold of a criminal offence, or the criminal nature of which is yet to be determined. A hate crime is any crime where the perpetrator is driven by prejudice or bias.