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SPANISH STAND-UP TRAINING

The project “STAND-UP: Fighting hate in the EU” held on 26 September at the Euro-Arab Foundation headquarters the Spanish training on hate crimes and hate speech, with the participation of experts from different fields commited to the fight against hatred. The course was divided in four thematic blocks: “The phenomenon of hate and under-reporting: a victim-centred approach”; “Narratives of hate in digital contexts”; “Alternative narratives from civil society”; and “Tools for social transformation”.

The STAND-UP training has been divided into two specific trainings: one held on 12 September on the use of OSINT to monitor online hate speech imparted by Lior Mordechai from Falkor and addressed exclusively to Law Enforcement Agencies, and this one aimed to all the stakeholders and focused on more areas to fight hatred.

The course was attended by professionals from the fields of education and social work, psychology, community mediation, research and the National Police Force, and with the participation of different entities such as CEAR, Save The Children, CEPAIM Foundation, Asociación Marroquí and Granada Acoge.

The director of the European Projects at FUNDEA, Javier Ruipérez Canales, welcomed the attendees and opened the training, which began with a presentation by the director of the Instituto Confucio of the University of Granada, Isabel María Balsas Ureña, and her co-director Bu Shan, on the role of the Institute and the activities they carry out to raise awareness of Chinese culture in society.

The researcher from FUNDEA, Lucía G. del Moral, was in charge of moderating the day, giving way to the first block on the phenomenon of hate and under-reporting with a focus on the victims, and the first speaker, Ismael Cortés, member of the Congress in the 14th legislature, and his conference on access to justice and the different initiatives to tackle hate crimes from a multi-stakeholder and multi-level approach.

He was followed by María Pina and Marina Dólera from Columbares with the presentation of the project “Está en tu mano” (It’s in your hand) and a wealth of data and analysis to understand in depth the current situation regarding hate crimes. The third presentation of the block was given by Bárbara Pérez Serrano, a health psychologist, expert in gender violence and coordinator of FUNCOP (Foundation for the Training and Practice of Psychology), who explained the group psychological care services for women victims of gender violence that exist in Andalusia, and how the processes of reporting and under-reporting are.

Agenda of the STAND-UP training on 26 September

The theme of the second block was the narratives of hate in digital contexts. Carmen Aguilera Carnenero, PhD from the University of Granada, shared her analysis of the power of dissemination of Islamophobic hate speech through memes. Next, the researchers from FUNDEA José Luis Salido and Lucía G. del Moral explained the monitoring of hate they carried out in the framework of the STAND-UP project on the extreme right on 20-N and Islamophobia in social networks during the World Cup in Qatar.

The third block dealt with the alternative narratives proposed by civil society. Vanesa Martín, head of projects and new narratives at Fundación Por Causa, explained how they generate new narrative frameworks on migration that connect with audiences and change public debate. Javier Vaquero, artist and LGTBI+ activist, presented the initiative ‘La Intersección’, a research and digital strategy team dedicated to creating collective narratives and tools to stop hate on social networks.

The last block was dedicated to tools for social transformation. Óscar Negredo, coordinator of the Community Mediation service of the Llobregat City Council of Hospitalet, where they apply multi-agency strategies for the prevention of violent extremism, creating spaces to promote understanding between groups and communities, took part in it. The National Police Inspector and Delegate for Citizen Participation of the Provincial Police Station of Granada, María José Ramírez Campos, also spoke about the promotion and awareness-raising work they carry out to prevent hate crimes in this specialised unit. The last presentation was given by Jero Varas, project technician of the Melilla Acoge Association, on the project ‘OWO: Defending the space of coexistence’ focused on the prevention of attitudes and behaviours that encourage hate speech and hate crimes.

The day ended with the presentation of the book ‘The Moon is in Douala: And my destiny in knowledge‘ in the form of a dialogue between its author Sani M. Ladan and Daniel F. Pérez, researcher at the Euro-Arab Foundation. During the conversation, they highlighted the prejudices and ignorance of European society about migratory phenomena, the lack of human quality that can be found in reception centres, the importance of having racialised references, the lack of protection of migrant children who are often used as a political tool, and the pan-African identity, among other interesting reflections.

The researcher Daniel F. Pérez and the writer, activist and international analyst Sani Ladan in the presentation of his book ‘The moon is in Douala’.
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Italian STAND-UP trainings in June

3 trainings will be held in the cities of Venice (on 21 June), Milan (on 28 June), and Rimini (on 29 June) in Italy, in the framework of the Stand-Up project. These regional courses are taught in Italian, following the Greek courses held in May, and the next ones to be held in Spain in September.

The aim of the trainings is to improve the competences and technological skills to combat hate phenomena. They will teach how to use OSINT and Falkor software to monitor hate speech and will implement Virtual Reality simulations. Courses will also explain Hate phenomena and national and european legislation, will have a victim-centred approach and focus on public-private cooperation.

The trainings are addressed to members of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), Public Authorities (judiciaries, ministries,prosecutors), or associationss or communitiess affected by hate crime or hate speech.

The courses are organised by Agenfor, a member of the Stand-up consortium. The technology tools block will be delivered by Falkor.

If you are interested, do not hesitate to contact Viviana Gullo (viviana.gullo@agenformedia.com) to register or for more information.

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Activities News

The Euro-Arab Foundation holds STAND-UP training courses at communication and journalism universities

One of the training sessions given at the University of Malaga
One of the training sessions given at the University of Malaga

The first phase of this training has focused on future professionals in this sector, with sessions given last week on 15 and 16 May at the Faculty of Communication Sciences of the University of Malaga (UMA) for students of Citizen Journalism and Social Networks of the Journalism Degree, and for students of Audiovisual Programming and Audience Analysis of the Audiovisual Communication Degree at the University of Granada (UGR).

The training package, developed by the Euro-Arab Foundation researchers Lucía García del Moral, José Luis Salido Medina and Daniel Pérez García, focused on three specific blocks: presentation of the results of the monitoring they have carried out in two fields, Islamophobia and extreme right-wing hate speeches, and a third block on alternative narratives as a response to hate speeches from a holistic perspective.

The Euro-Arab Foundation, a member of the STAND-UP consortium and responsible for its Communication package, has initiated this training as it understands that the media are a fundamental element in the chain of information and education of citizens because, according to the European Code of Ethics in Journalism, approved in 1993 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, “the media assume an ethical responsibility towards citizens and society that is necessary to remember at the present time, when information and communication are of great importance for the development of citizens’ personalities as well as for the evolution of society and democratic life“.

STAND-UP session at the University of Granada (UGR)

The main objective of the STAND-UP project is to improve inter-agency cooperation in the fight against hate crime through the design, development and implementation of a new inter-agency model led by public authorities. Among the different actions developed by this project, funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, is the design and implementation of training for civil society organisations, law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and judges on how to report, investigate, prosecute and prevent hate crime and discrimination.

The model developed by the STAND UP project, which involves institutions from four European countries: Spain, France, Greece and Italy, includes technological tools to improve the reporting, investigation, prosecution and prevention of hate speech and hate crime, as well as the exchange of data between different agencies; an established definition of hate crime; standardised templates for reporting hate crime (for law enforcement and civil society organisations) and an inter-institutional manual for victim support.

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Project Steering Committee meeting of STAND-UP

STAND-UP Consortium reunited in Athens, Greece

On 4 May, the Project Steering Committee Meeting of STAND-UP was hosted at the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) headquarters in Athens, the partners who led this meeting. This is the third meeting held by the consortium, the first was the kick-off meeting in Granada, Spain, in May 2022, and the second steering committee in Trento, Italy, in October 2022.

Christos Kouroutzas from Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR), Vasso Artinopoulou from the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) and Member of SPT, United Nations. and Giovanni Gasparini, Deputy Public Prosecutor of Venice – Italy
Christos Kouroutzas, professor from Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR), Vasso Artinopoulou, director of the Institute on Crime and Criminal Justice at the European Public Law Organization (EPLO), and Giovanni Gasparini, Deputy Prosecutor of Venice, Italy.

In this meeting, a synthesis of the growth of STAND-UP from its beginning until now was made, where the progress of each work package of the project was presented, as well as the current point where it is, and the next tasks and activities to be carried out. The representatives of the consortium members had time for discussion after the presentation of each work package, in order to better coordinate and organise the ongoing and following activities.

Stand-Up Consortium at the Project Steering Committee meeting at EPLO premises

The topics covered at the meeting were the work packages about Hate Monitoring Mechanism led by VEJudPol (Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Ordinary Court of Venice), Capacity Building by AGENFOR and EPLO, Multi-agency cooperation run by the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR) and the European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), STAND-UP Pilot carried out by TNJudPol (Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Ordinary Court of Trento), Dissemination and Communication by FUNDEA, and the Management and coordination of the action and Financial management of the action, covered by TNJudPol. Finally, the meeting ended with a time for a questions and answers and open discussion.

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STAND-UP Greek training: New technologies in the fight against crimes and hate speech

A few words on the education model

Today the European Union has evolved significantly at social and legislative level concerning the confrontation and elimination of hate crime & hate speech phenomena. However, hate speech & crime against people and groups still exist due to their distinguishing characteristics.

STAND-UP’s overall aim is to establish a multi-agency cooperation model between public authorities & CSOs, so as to tackle hate crime and hate speech phenomena, with the contribution of new technological instruments.

Training’s target group is public authorities (judiciaries, ministries, prosecutors), Law Enforcement Agents (LEAs), like policy officers, and members of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) active in the field of combating hate crime and hate speech.

During the training the participants will familiarise themselves with advanced & tailor-made tools developed within the frame of the project, while also using Virtual Reality technology.

The participants after the trainings will be able to:

  • Deepen their knowledge upon the hate speech and crimes phenomena and the relevant legislative framework in Greece.
  • Use automated Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) monitoring mechanisms, while having access to Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) platforms, related reporting tools & educational material.
  • Exchange good practises of cooperation and experiences, strengthening & cultivating their in between collaboration, communication channels and trust.
  • Strengthen the support provided to victims of hate crime and hate speech, based on the European Directive on Victims’ Rights.

Structure & Programme of the training

The training is based on blended learning methods with joint modules of synchronous learning, therefore being characterised as interactive, experiential and practical. The participants will acquire among others practical skills and knowledge upon the use of OSINT monitoring platforms for automated confidential reporting and early-warnings systems within the frame of investigations.

Finally, through specifically designed Virtual Reality simulation scenarios in the context of the investigations and role-playing exercises, the participants will become aware of the needs of victims during the investigation procedures.

The training will last 5 hours and there is the possibility to attend it at the day of your choice (either on the 29th or on the 30th of May 2023). It will be held in Athens, Greece at EPLO premises, Polignotou & Dioskouron 2 in Plaka. Each workshop will consist by members from all the above-mentioned institutions (mixed groups), where both practical and theoretical knowledge will be gained.

More information concerning the training’s programme will follow within the next days.

Since there is a limited number of seats for each day, registration is required. Below you will be able to proceed with your registration:

Register here.

Important note

Before and after the training Evaluation Questionnaires will be distributed, which will be mandatory to be filled in.

The training will take place in Greek, with the sole exception of the practical part, where the training upon the use of the FALKOR platform and the Virtual Reality scenarios will take place in English.

For further information concerning the registration and the training, please contact:

Ms. Maria Poulopoulou: mpoulopoulou@eplo.int | +302113110693

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STAND-UP seminars on hate speech monitoring: background and approach

Using digital intelligence tools for monitoring hate speech

The STAND-UP Webinars foreseen for this month aim to promote and present the use of technologically advanced tools to combat and prevent hate speech, starting from the analysis of online hate speech, with a view to cooperation between public sector-Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) mainly-and the private sector (associations, NGOs and research centres).

Discriminatory behaviours, intolerance and hate are widespread in Europe towards individuals or entire communities based on biased motivations – race and ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, religion, disability, or other peculiar features identifying those individuals. According to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Amnesty International and the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs, the hate and discriminatory climate towards other minorities or sensitive groups grew significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic[1], which exacerbated social tensions and hate sentiments – against Asian people primarily, but also against Jewish, for instance,
always put in the spotlight by conspiracy theories.

Analysing the available data, despite the high number of hate crime incidents, “victims continue to avoid reporting” to LEAs (only one out of ten in Spain, for instance), together with a rise of hate speech, in particular in the online environment, resulting in companies and governments applying increasingly strict regulations.

The hate phenomena are inextricably connected, originating from hateful socio-cultural conduct based on a discriminatory foundation, marginalizing and harming – either physically or verbally – the targets.

However, the specificities of hate crimes and hate speech need to be distinguished, especially concerning the features of the online environment which shape how those phenomena manifest themselves. The criminal component can also lie in a comment on social media or in a text: the web analysis, in this sense, results prominent, not only in thoroughly understanding hate phenomena but also in preventing the escalation from online hate speech to offline hate crime.

The Regional OSINT Report drafted within STAND-UP will offer an insight into the partners’ countries, specifically investigating selected topics: xenophobia in Greece, Antisemitism in Italy and islamophobia in Spain.

The choice of the categories affected is the result of the debate rise during each national Focus Group, providing a broad perspective of the southern hate climate. While migrants and refugees are the most affected group, selecting hate incidents based on religion offers a socio-cultural framework of Italy and Spain which is inherently related to their historical roots. Moreover, both antisemitism and islamophobia actually cover other individuals’ features, as intersectional phenomena: from the religious aspect, they also encompass ethnicity and gender.

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The STAND-UP project is holding 4 online seminars in February

In the framework of the “Stand-Up: fighting against hate crimes in the EU” project, 4 webinars will be presented: 3 national webinars held in Greek, Italian and Spanish, developed by the partners Euroarab Foundation (FUNDEA) from Spain; Fondazione Agenfor Internacional from Italy, and the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) along with the Greek National Comission for Human Rights from Greece. In addition, a fourth webinar will also be held at an pan-european level. The topic of these seminars are about the use of technological tools to monitor hate speech, identifying hateful feelings, areas of intervention, groups at risk and hate narratives on social networks.

The main objective of these seminars is to establish a comprehensive and holistic framework in the fight against hate crimes and hate speech based on the RIPP model (complaint-investigation-prosecution-prevention) from a victim-centered approach. Within the seminars, technological tools as OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) and FALKOR platform will be presented and the results of monitoring hate speech in every research field.

The pan-european webinar is about “Tackling and monitoring hate phenomena in Europe: right-wing extremism, islamophobia and antisemitism” and it will be held on 22 february. The seminar will be initiated by Viviana Gullo, presenting STAND-UP and the preventive and investigative model to tackle the hate phenomena; Yuval Sanders and Lior Mordechai will address the technologies OSINT and Falkor supporting the model. As more, regional OSINT reports will be presented by Fabio Frettoli, Katerina Charokopou, Thanassis Dimopoulos, Lucía García del Moral and Viviana Gullo. Finally, Sergio Bianchi will raise a debate and future opportunities. You can register through this form.

As for the national online events, the Spanish webinar by FUNDEA, “Narratives and right-wing hate speech and Islamophobia in Spain”, will be held on 20 february, with a presentation of the STAND-UP project by Lucía García del Moral. As in the Italian seminar, it will also participate Yuval Sanders and Lior Mordechain presenting the tools for hate speech monitoring online OSINT and FALKOR. Finally, Lucía García del Moral and Jose Luis Salido will explain two case studies from Spain: “Islamophobia in social networks: the World Cup in Qatar” and “Narratives of the extreme right: monitoring 20-N and 25-N dates”. You can register through this form.

The Italian webinar managed by AGENFOR will talk about “Contrast and tracking of hate phenomena in Italy: Veneto Front Skinheads and anti-semitic climate” and it will be on 14 february. The speakers, as the pan-european webinar, will be Viviana Gullo; Yuval Sanders and Lior Mordechain; Fabio Frettoli and Sergio Bianchi, exposing the topics mentioned in the pan-european event. You can register through this form.

About the Greek seminar, EPLO together with the Greek National Comission for Human Rights will held on 15 february the webinar “Confronting Hate Crimes & Hate Speech through OSINT” with the welcoming of Professor Vasilki Artinopoulou, scientific coordinator of the project. The round of discussions will be presented by Maria Poulopoulou, establishing the project’s objectives and methodology. Kouroutzas Christos will talk about “The role of new technologies in tackling hate crime and hate speech”. Lior Mordechai will develop a technical presentation about the use of OSINT intelligence. Finally, the Greek OSINT report focus on the case study “xenophobia towards refugees and inmigrants in Greece” will be presented by Katerina Charokopou and Thanasis Dimopoulos.

STAND-UP has as its main objective to improve cooperation between different organizations in the fight against hate crimes through the design, development and implementation of a new inter-institutional model.

This project is financed by the General Directorate of Justice and Consumers of the European Commission and the consortium is formed by the Euro-Arab Foundation of Higher Studies (Spain), Procura della Repubblica di Trento (Italy), The prosecution office of Venice (Italy), Fondazione Agenfor International (Italy), European Public Law Organization (EPLO), Greek National Commision for Human Rights (GNCHR), Association Des Agences de la Démocratie Locale (ALDA) in France.

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“Defining Hate Crime” STAND UP seminar at European Parliament

STAND UP Seminar at the European Parliament. September 2022

A significant number of contributions made by European experts from the legal and police fields, civil society organisations, NGOs, policy makers and academia, were discussed in Brussels at the seminar “Standing Up Against Hate Crime”. The seminar was organised by the STAND-UP project at the European Parliament on 28 and 29 September.

The meeting aimed to find a common definition of “hate crime” in order to support the RIPP-cycle (reporting-investigating-prosecuting-preventing) and ensure the highest level of victim assistance within the framework of multi-agency cooperation.

During the two days of the workshop, relevant case studies across Europe were analysed during the meeting, including results obtained in the focus groups held in Greece, Italy and Spain. Proposals for standardised reporting procedures focus on using technology were also presented. In addition, experts discussed bias motivations behind hate crimes, the environment in which the hatred occurred and the application of intersectional approaches.

Giovanni Gasparini, Deputy Public Prosecutor of Venue – Italy- and Eva Tzavala and Katerina Charokopou, Legal Advisors, Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR)

Defining Hate Crime: Towards a common European Definition / Wednesday 28th

The meeting held opened with a round table of experts on hate crimes.  Giovanni Gasparini, Deputy Public Prosecutor of Vecine on behalf of Sandro Raimondi, Public Prosecutor’s Office of Trento (TNJudPol) presented the STAND-UP project, followed by the summary of STAND-UP Deliverable D3.3 “Defining Hate Crime Report” by Eva Tzavala and Katerina Charokopou, Legal Advisors (Greek National Commission for Human Rights, GNCHR).

Following this introduction, the first day was divided into three sessions. The first one focus on tackling Hate Crime and Hate Speech. With this aim, Viktor Kundrak (OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights) debated around the question of ideal hate crime legislation, analysing  substantive offences versus sentencing enhancement provisions. The following presentation by Tina Stavrinaki, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) defined bias motivation of hate crimes.

Viktor Kundrak, Hate Crime Officer, OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
Tina Stavrinaki, Vice-Chair UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

The session closed studying mechanisms for countering hate speech in the area of particularly serious crimes and the online context by Menno Ettema, Programme Manager / Co-Secretariat of the former Committee of Experts on Combating Hate Speech (ADI/MSI-DIS), Council of Europe.

Menno Ettema, Programme manager / Co- secretariat to the former Committee of Experts on Combating Hate Speech (ADI/MSI-DIS), Council of Europe

The second session paid attention to the international, regional and national framework on hate crimes, with special references to the need of harmonizing EU definitions and norms for countering hate crimes. This table included the presentation of Niels Letsrade, EU Internet Referral Unit (Europol), and Christel Mercade Piqueras, Officer, DG Justice (European Comission).

Finally, the third session focus on analysing hate crime in another context. On the one hand, an analysis of hate crime in the African context was presented by Fabrizio Lobasso, Deputy Director for Sub-Saharian African countries at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. On the other hand, Alberto Izquierdo Montero (Intercultural Education Research Group, Faculty of Education UNED) focused his presentation on visibilising the mechanisms of hate speech to critically read the wor(L)d in education. This session ended with Concluding Remarks by Eva Tzavala and Katerina Charokopou, Legal Advisors GNCHR.

Fabrizio Lobasso, Deputy director for Sub-Saharan African countries at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Speech by Alberto Izquierdo Montero, Intercultural Education Research Group, Faculty of Education UNED – Spain.

“Defining Hate Crime Reporting: Cooperation between LEAs and CSOs” / Thursday 29th

The second day started with the opening presentation of STAND-UP focus on hate crime reporting forms by Giovanni Gasparini, Deputy Public Prosecutor of Venice (VEJudPol).

As on the previous day, the Seminar was organized on three sessions. The first one, analysed the definition of Hate Crimes based on the three Focus Group held in Greece, Italy and Spain in framework of the STAND-UP project.  Alessandra Brigo, Project Manager and Coordinator of the Gender, Inclusion and Human rights HUB at ALDA- European Association for Local Democracy, discussed about the challenges and models for fighting against hate at national level in these three countries.  This presentation was followed by a panel about “Best Practices to counter Hate Speech/Crime Between Penal Proceeding, Administrative Prevention and Mediation. A blueprint towards public-private cooperation and new training models” with Giovanni Gasparini, Deputy Public Prosecutor of Venice (VEJudPol), Viviana Gullo, Junior Project Manager (AGENFOR), Yuval Sanders, Managing Director of Falkor, and Sergio Bianchi, Senior Researcher (AGENFOR).

Sergio Bianchi, Senior Researcher, trainer (AGENFOR); Katerina Charokopou, Legal Advisors, Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR); Giovanni Gasparini, deputy Public Prosecutor of Venice (VEJudPol); Yuval Sanders, Falkor CEO and Viviana Gullo, Junior Project Manager (AGENFOR).

To conclude this session, a round table about “Coordinated responses to tackle hate crimes and the role of civil society organisations (CSOs)” took place with Vasiliki Artinopoulou, European Public Law Organisation (EPLO) and member of the SPT, United Nations as main speaker. The following discussants added key notes for understanding the importance of involving CSOs in a multi-agency cooperation model for countering hate in the EU:  Garyfallia Anastasopoulou, Racist Violence Registration Network; Lucía García del Moral, EuroArab Fundation -Spain (FUNDEA) and Sergio Bianchi, Senior Researcher AGENFOR – Italy.

Vasiliki Artinopoulou, European Public Law Organization (EPLO) and Member of SPT, United Nations.
Lucia García del Moral, Research Euro-Arab Foundation Foundation – Spain (FUNDEA)
Garyfallia Anastasopoulou Racist Violence Recording Network – Greece
Sergio Bianchi, Senior Researcher (AGENFOR) Italy.

The second session addressed the topic of technology to prevent hate speech/hate crimes. Luigi Ranzato and Nicola Cordeschi, Judicial Police of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Trento (TNJUDPOL) explained technology to prevent hate speech and prosecute hate crimes in the framework of public-private cooperation.

Luigi Ranzato and Nicola Cordeschi, judicial police of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Trento. Italy (TNJUDPOL).

Lastly, the final session approached to religion and race in the context of hatred. Cristina Rodríguez Reche, Autonomous University of Barcelona, spoke on “Islamophobia as a challenge in a diverse Europe: the importance of the gender perspective” and Carmelo Ruberto, former Public Prosecutor of Rovigo, focused his speech on “Sinti ethnicity in the context of hatred: murder of C.E., of Sinti ethnicity, by her minor son (perpetrator) and G.A. (moral accomplice). 4 February 2022”.

Cristina Rodríguez Reche, Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona- Spain.

The seminar concluded with some final remarks stated by Viviana Gullo, Junior Project Manager (AGENFOR) and Sergio Bianchi, Senior Researcher, trainer (AGENFOR).

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The European Parliament will host the STAND UP seminar ‘Against Hate Crimes’

This week, 28-29 September, the seminar organised by the European project STAND UP – Fighting Hate takes place in the European Parliament (Brussels). The aim of this event is to find a common European definition of “hate crime” and to analyse measures that can counter this hate speech.

The seminar “Against Hate Crimes” will also provide an overview of the results of the focus groups developed by the STAND UP project on hate crime and hate speech in Greece, Italy and Spain, as well as a proposal for standardised reporting procedures, including the use of technology to report, investigate, prosecute and prevent (RIPP) hate speech and hate crime in the framework of multi-agency cooperation and the highest level victim assistance model.

To this end, the seminar at the European Parliament will bring together experts from the legal, law enforcement, CSO (civil society organisations), NGO and policy-making fields from different European countries.

  • Wednesday 28th: “Defining Hate Crimes: Towards a common European definition”
  • Thursday 29th: “Reporting Hate Crime: Cooperation between Law Enforcement Authorities (LEAS) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)”.

STAND UP

Discrimination, intolerance and hatred are still present in European societies, often leading to serious and violent crimes.

These practices and sentiments are to a large extent causes of wider social tensions and have lasting repercussions on victims, their families and our societies. However, there are shortcomings at European level in the handling of hate crimes and discrimination towards individuals or communities on grounds of gender, race, sexuality or other aspects, as well as in the response given by public authorities in European countries.

The STAND-UP project aims to improve inter-agency cooperation in the fight against hate crime through the design, development and implementation of a new inter-agency model led by public authorities.

The model developed by STAND-UP comprises technological tools to improve the monitoring of hate speech and hate crime, as well as the exchange of data between different agencies; an established definition of hate crime; hate crime reporting templates (for law enforcement and CSOs); inter-agency manuals for victim support.

STAND-UP, financed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, is coordinated by the Procura della Repubblica presso il Tribunale Ordinario di Trento -Italy, and counts in its consortium with the National Commission for Human Rights- Ethniki Epitropi gia ta Dikaiomata tou Anthropou – Greece; Fundación Euroárabe de Altos Estudios -Spain ; European Public Law Organization – Greece; Fondazione Agenfor International – Italy ; Association des Agences de la Democratie Local – France

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Kick-Off Meeting in Granada

The in-presence Project Kick-Off Meeting finally took place on the 10th and 11th of May, hosted by the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies in Granada, Spain.

The meeting was jointly carried out with the BigOsint Project that objective is to counteract Trafficking in Human Beings through the analysis of Big Data and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT).

Partners exchanged thoughts, ideas for what concerns the technical aspects, communication strategies and the future steps of the project.

A training was given on the use of OSINT tools and the Falkor platform.

Agenfor introduced its Virtual Reality training methodology that both projects will apply in a later phase, allowing them to contribute to the development of the training and its implementation in a more effective manner.

The objective of this meeting was to work on the training and coordination of the pilot tests that will be carried out, sharing the tools and platforms of these two projects financed by the European Commission.