Recommendations on Policing in Multi-Ethnic Societies States have an obligation to investigate possible racist motives behind acts of violence. 11 In order to combat crime motivated by ethnic hatred effectively, the first requirement is that police must have procedures for recording such crimes, and for investigating them effectively. These procedures need to ensure that evidence of the element of ethnic motivation is properly collected so that it can be presented in court. Police officers need to be trained so that they follow these procedures, and understand why they are important. Police need to ensure that not only majorities but also minorities, who are disproportionately victims of such crimes, have the confidence to report such crimes, and police should co-operate with NGOs and community groups for this purpose. Police should also compile anonymised, aggregated statistical information about such crimes, and analyse it so that they can monitor the incidence of such crime and their own effectiveness in responding to it. Such data should be made available to other public authorities and NGOs, so that they can co-operate with the police in undertaking preventive action. 12 20. States need to ensure that mechanisms to provide advice and support for victims of crime are equally accessible to and effective for persons belonging to national minorities. OSCE participating States currently vary in the extent to which they recognize the needs and rights of persons who have been victims of crime, and in the extent to which they make provision for advice and support for such persons. In many States, there is little or no such provision. However, in recent years, the international community has placed increasing emphasis on the need for greater recognition of the rights of victims of crime, by addressing this issue within a variety of international conventions and declarations, especially those relating to women and to children. Such documents identify specific human rights which are relevant to victims of crime, including rights to personal freedom and dignity, to compensation, to medical, physical and social assistance, to information about the progress of criminal investigations, and to access to justice generally. 11 European Court of Human Rights (Grand Chamber) 6 July 2005, Nachova and others v. Bulgaria, (applications nos. 43577/98 and 43579/98), available at http://www.echr.coe.int 12 Since 2004, a specific OSCE programme - the 0DIHR Law Enforcement 0fficer Programme on Combating Hate Crime - has been assisting police in OSCE participating States to address these issues. See http://www.osce.org/ odihr/item_11_16251 .html 37