News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
OSCE/ODIHR event in Kyiv focuses on lessons learned and recommendations for further reforms developed in project on security of religious communities in Ukraine
Publishing date: 26 February 2016
Lessons learned and recommendations for further reforms in policy, legislation and practice developed over the course of a project to promote the security of religious communities in Ukraine were the focus of an event organized by the OSCE Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Kyiv on 25 and 26 February 2016.
OSCE/ODIHR Director Link welcomes latest attempt by US President Obama to bring about closure of Guantanamo Bay detention facility
Publishing date: 24 February 2016
WARSAW, 24 February, 2016 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today welcomed the move by United States President Barack Obama to send to Congress a plan to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay...
OSCE/ODIHR Director calls on Belarus to introduce moratorium on death penalty
Publishing date: 18 February 2016
WARSAW, 18 February 2016 – Today, following the sentencing to death in Minsk of both Sergei Khmelevsky this week and Henadz Yakaritski on 5 January 2016, Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), called on Belarus to introduce an immediate moratorium on the death penalty and its complete abolition...
Albanian court reduces unreasonable delays in trials after embracing OSCE and USAID-initiated ‘Justice without delays’ project
Publishing date: 16 February 2016
BAJRAM CURRI, Albania, 16 February 2016 – The Tropoja District Court in northern Albania today presented the first results of the OSCE- and USAID-initiated Justice without delays project, which reveal significant improvements to the efficiency of the trial sessions...
OSCE/ODIHR trains Ukrainian lawyers on litigation related to freedom of religion or belief
Publishing date: 12 February 2016
The right to freedom of religion or belief in the case law and practice of the European Court of Human Rights was the focus of training organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 11 and 12 February 2016 in Kyiv.
OSCE Mission in Kosovo trains former ‘Civil Protection’ members
Publishing date: 8 February 2016
VUSHTRRI/VUČITRN, 8 February 2016 – The OSCE Mission today started a basic training course for 378 former members of the ‘Civilian Protection’ from northern Kosovo on the institutional and legal framework in Kosovo, including community rights...
Crisis of migrants and refugees in focus as OSCE PA committee leaders visit Czech Republic
Publishing date: 3 February 2016
PRAGUE, 3 February 2016 – The leadership of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions visited the Czech Republic on 1 and 2 February to consider the country’s role in responding to the crisis of migrants and refugees currently affecting the OSCE area...