Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

ODIHR Director Janez Lenarčič (l) speaks to Martina Feeny, Deputy Head of the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the OSCE (c) and Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (r), at the start of the three-day Human Dimension Seminar on ways to strengthen the rule of law to combat trafficking in human beings. Warsaw, 14 May 2012. (OSCE/Piotr Markowski)
ODIHR Director Janez Lenarčič (l) speaks to Martina Feeny, Deputy Head of the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the OSCE (c) and Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (r), at the start of the three-day Human Dimension Seminar on ways to strengthen the rule of law to combat trafficking in human beings. Warsaw, 14 May 2012. (OSCE/Piotr Markowski)
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is based in Warsaw, Poland. It is active throughout the OSCE area in the fields of election observation, democratic development, human rights, tolerance and non-discrimination, and rule of law.
ODIHR consultant Friedrich Schwindt delivers the training course for Georgian law enforcement officers on the protection of human rights while countering terrorism, Tbilisi, 16 May 2012.

ODIHR trains Georgian law enforcement officers on the protection of human rights while countering terrorism

Georgian law enforcement officers completed a three-day training course on 18 May 2012, organized by ODIHR and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, on the protection of human rights while countering terrorism...
ODIHR Director, Ambassador Janez Lenarčič (r) listens as Richard Katz, the Chairperson of the OSCE/ODIHR Core Group of Experts on Political Parties, addresses the annual meeting of the Group, Warsaw, 17 May 2012.

OSCE/ODIHR expert group discusses challenges in political party regulation

New challenges in the regulation of political parties were the focus of the annual meeting of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) Core Group of Experts on Political Parties, held in Warsaw on 17 May 2012...
Helsinki at night. ODIHR presented the final report of the Election Assessment Mission to Finland’s 2011 parliamentary elections, in the Finnish capital on 14-16 May 2012.

OSCE/ODIHR presents electoral recommendations in Finland

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented, from 14 to 16 May 2012 in Helsinki, the final report of the Election Assessment Mission to the 17 April 2011 parliamentary elections in Finland...
(L-r) Cindy Dyer, Vice-President of the non-governmental organization Vital Voices Global Partnership; Mariana Katzarova, ODIHR’s Senior Adviser on Anti-Trafficking Issues; Ajla van Heel, ODIHR Gender Officer, and Marieke van Doorninck, City Councillor in Amsterdam, moderate discussions at the OSCE event, “Political leadership: Who can speak for the victims of trafficking?” Warsaw, 15 May 2012.

More women leaders and stronger political commitment needed to combat human trafficking, say participants at ODIHR event

The need for more women leaders and a stronger political commitment by states to combat trafficking in human beings was highlighted at an OSCE event “Political leadership: Who can speak for the victims of trafficking?”, held on 15 May 2012...
(L-r) ODIHR Director, Ambassador Janez Lenarčič and Martina Feeny, Deputy Head of the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the OSCE, listen as Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, delivers the keynote address at the Human Dimension Seminar on ways to strengthen the rule of law to combat human trafficking. Warsaw, 14 May 2012.

Rule of law vital to protecting rights of victims of human trafficking, participants at OSCE meeting say

WARSAW, 14 May 2012 - The rule of law needs to be strengthened in the fight against human trafficking in order to better protect victims' human rights and ensure them access to justice, participants said today at the opening of an OSCE meeting on the topic...
A voter casts her ballot at a polling station in Moscow during Russia's Presidential election, 4 March 2012.

OSCE/ODIHR final report on Russia’s presidential election recommends measures to promote fairness and equality in electoral process

The final report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on Russia’s presidential election on 4 March 2012 concludes that the contest was clearly skewed in favour of one of the contestants and recommends measures to ensure a more balanced process...
A voter identifying his name on the voter list during the the presidential and municipal elections in Bulgaria, Sofia, 23 October 2011.

OSCE/ODIHR presents final report on presidential and municipal elections in Bulgaria

An expert team from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented, from 7 to 9 May 2012 in Sofia, the final report of the Limited Election Observation Mission to the October 2011 presidential and municipal elections in Bulgaria...
Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, the Director of ODIHR, meets with Yevgenii Zhovtis, a member of the Office's Panel of Experts on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, on the sidelines of the Panel's annual meeting in Warsaw on 8 May.

OSCE/ODIHR expert panel explores challenges to freedom of peaceful assembly

Challenges in promoting freedom of peaceful assembly in the OSCE area are the focus of a two-day meeting of an expert panel which opened in Warsaw on 8 May 2012...
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Presenting the Training Against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme to Croatian police

A participant gives his comments on the session to Azra Junuzović, Deputy Head of ODIHR’s Tolerance and Non-Discrimination Department. The presentation was part of an assessment to gather feedback from the Croatian authorities on the new programme and how it can be integrated with existing training schemes in Croatia. TAHCLE is customized to reflect and address the circumstances, needs and conditions in the host State, and implemented with law enforcement officers for the benefit of police, communities and society. Zagreb, 23 March 2012.
Images from a presentation to Croatian police on 23 March 2012 about ODIHR's new programme on helping law enforcement officers to better respond to and tackle hate crime.

Observation of the presidential election in the Russian Federation

A voter casts her ballot at a polling station in Moscow during Russia's Presidential election, 4 March 2012.
OSCE/ODIHR observed the 4 March presidential election in the Russian Federation following an invitation from the Central Election Commission.