Police Officer Training in Romania

From 5-6 July 2016 training sessions for Romanian police officers on combatting antisemitism, discrimination and xenophobia were held in Ploiesti.

The Romanian IHRA Chairmanship continues the training sessions for Romanian public servants on combatting antisemitism, racism, xenophobia, Holocaust denial and the cult of personalities guilty of crimes against peace and humanity.

From 5-6 July 2016 a training session for Romanian police officers took place. Topics such as contemporary forms of antisemitism, racism, xenophobia and Holocaust denial in the current legal framework were discussed. Special attention was given to the aspects concerning the prevention, handling and combatting of antisemitic, discriminatory and xenophobic incidents.

The training was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, supported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Council for Combatting of Discrimination, the "Elie Wiesel” National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania, the Center for Combatting and Monitoring Antisemitism in Romania-MCA Romania. The training also benefited from the participation of trainers sent by the American Jewish Committee Ierusalim, the Manchester Metropolitan Police and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA/EU). The members of the Romanian delegation to IHRA also contributed their expertise to the discussions.

At the opening event the IHRA Chair, Ambassador Mihnea Constantinescu, underlined that ‘with the series of trainings, we wish to promote a better understanding among Romanian public officers of the way in which the issues of combatting antisemitism and Holocaust denial are handled in Romania. From the beginning of the interaction between police officers and citizens, it is necessary to invest efforts in their constant training so that they can adequately respond to the challenges and realities in the field. It is important that the representatives of the Romanian police be able to respond to traditional acts of antisemitism and Holocaust denial, but also to newer actions, especially in the online environment.”

The IHRA Chair also referred to the adoption of the national legislation on the interdiction of the use of fascist, racist of xenophobic organizations and symbols and of the promotion of the cult of personalitiess guilty of crimes against peace and humanity and underlined the importance of Romanian police officers be aware of and correctly implementing the legislation in the field.

The next training session for public servants will take place in autumn of 2016 and will target Romanian and foreign diplomats.