VZCZCXRO3929
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHUP #0881/01 3451656
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111656Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4743
INFO RUCNMUC/EU CANDIDATE STATES COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHZJ/HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BUDAPEST 000881 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CE JAMIE MOORE, INL ALLISON HENRY-PLOTTS 
AND ELIZABETH CARROLL, DRL/EUR DOUGLASS KRAMER, FBI FOR 
ITAU FREDERICK SCHMIED 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI EU HU
SUBJECT: MULTICULTURAL POLICING WORKSHOP ADDRESSES 
ANTI-ROMA VIOLENCE 
 
REF: A. BUDAPEST 00616 
     ¶B. BUDAPEST 00612 
 
BUDAPEST 00000881  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. As part of Post's continuing tolerance 
program, Post, the Hungarian Ministry of Justice (MOJ), and 
the FBI's International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) 
jointly conducted a two-day workshop in Budapest for senior 
police officials, prosecutors, and judges on policing in 
multi-cultural society.  Hungarian NGOs and international 
speakers shared their insights and best practices, while the 
MOJ presented case studies and conducted practical exercises. 
 Our effort responds to a request from Foreign Minister 
Balasz to Secretary Clinton for assistance in improving 
minority policing.  We are studying further ways to help 
address this problem.  End Summary. 
 
BACKGROUND: ESCALATING ANTI-ROMA VIOLENCE 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Deteriorating economic conditions have acerbated 
tensions with and violence against the minority Roma 
population.  The most serious case earlier this year involved 
a series of arson attacks and shootings that left seven Roma 
dead (ref A).  The extreme-right Jobbik party has claimed 
that the police are too weak to protect Hungarians from 
"Gypsy Crime," and have offered the para-military Magyar 
Garda as an alternative.  At the same time, some Roma have 
started self-defense patrols of their settlements.  Police 
and judges are grappling with the situation and the overall 
increase of tension surrounding law enforcement issues.   FBI 
help in solving the Roma serial killings has made the MOJ 
more open to our offers of assistance. 
 
THE GOAL: INTRODUCING MULTICULTURAL POLICING CONCEPTS 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶3. (U) Post and the MOJ jointly sponsored a December 2-3 
workshop on policing in a multi-cultural environment at ILEA 
Budapest.  The target audience was forty Hungarian 
senior-level police officers (Budapest District Commanders 
and Deputy County Commissioners from outside of Budapest) and 
ten prosecutors and judges.  They joined representatives from 
the United States, Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands to 
examine the motivation behind and how to investigate hate 
crimes.  Drawing parallels between the current situation of 
minorities in Hungary and similar conditions in other 
countries, the workshop introduced participants to available 
resources and experts on human rights, hate crimes 
investigations, and community policing, providing a forum for 
participants to share issues of concern and best practices. 
 
¶4. (SBU) NGO speakers detailed the social and legal 
discrimination Roma face, and offered tools and training to 
support police efforts.  The Hungarian Helsinki Committee 
(HHC) presented research results on the inefficiency of 
disproportionate identification checks for Roma.  HHC claimed 
that though Roma are stopped three times more often than 
non-Roma, there was no significant difference between Roma 
and non-Roma in terms of arrests or convictions.  The Open 
Society explained that crime goes unreported when minorities 
fear the police.  The Roma Police Association stressed that a 
strong minority presence on the police force could help 
reduce personal prejudices of officers and strengthen 
community outreach programs to the Roma. 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) The U.S., Canadian, and British experts shared 
multi-ethnic policing examples. The Head of the FBI Hate 
Crimes Division explained U.S. law, and detailed recent hate 
crimes cases.  The Head of the London Police Diversity Unit 
and the Canadian professor of criminology provided examples 
of community outreach programs and minority hiring practices. 
 The response was extremely positive.  The participants were 
actively engaged throughout, and there were indications that 
we succeeded in broadening police and judicial thinking on 
how best to work in a multi-cultural society.  Post-workshop 
student surveys recommended that future workshops include 
more concrete examples and practical hands-on training. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
BUDAPEST 00000881  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) We note that Foreign Minister Balasz asked Secretary 
Clinton in October for U.S. help in improving minority 
policing efforts and Prime Minister Bajnai subsequently 
raised the issue with Vice President Biden during their 
December 4 meeting.  We strongly believe that additional 
follow-on practical training would achieve important results 
in both the police and the judiciary, and are examining with 
our ILEA counterparts ways to build upon our initial 
workshop.  We are still awaiting a response to our request 
for a Prime Minister's Office point of contact to coordinate 
this initiative and other Roma-related programs. 
LEVINE