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Tag: Hate Crimes

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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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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.

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. 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.

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.

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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STAND-UP reports on islamophobia, xenophobia, right-wing and antisemitism

The STAND-UP project held 4 webinars in february: 3 national webinars 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, and a final pan-european webinar with the participation of the STAND-UP partners and all the case studies discussed.

All the webinars explained the use of technological tools as OSINT software and Falkor platform to monitor online hate speech and hate crimes. As well, each regional webinar focused on a particular case to investigate.

The Spanish webinar by FUNDEA presented “Narratives and right-wing hate speech and Islamophobia in Spain” with two case studies: the World Cup in Qatar and narratives of the right-wing on two controversial dates in Spain.

The Italian webinar managed by AGENFOR spoke about “Contrast and tracking of hate phenomena in Italy: Veneto Front Skinheads and anti-semitic climate”, focus on antisemitism and right-wing extremism in Italy.

The Greek seminar lidered by EPLO along with the Greek National Comission for Human Rights held the topic “Confronting Hate Crimes & Hate Speech through OSINT” analyzing xenophobia in Greece.

Here you can find all the reports exposed in the webinars:

Agenfor-International-OSINT-Report-Veneto-Fronte-SkinheadsDownload
Agenfor-International-OSINT-Report-Antisemitism-in-ItalyDownload
OSINT-Report-Xenophobia-in-Greece-2Download
OSINT-Report-Islamophobia-SpainDownload
OSINT-Report-Right-wing-extremism-in-SpainDownload
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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.

Categories
News

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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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