ODIHR appoints new Panel of Experts on Freedom of Assembly and Association
The 16 members of the newly appointed Panel of Experts on Freedom of Assembly and Association under the auspices of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) will start their four-year term on 1 January 2023.
Coming from a variety of backgrounds, including academia, legal professions, assembly policing and civic and human rights activism, the panel members bring together a whole breadth of experience and knowledge on the fundamental rights to freedom of peaceful assembly or freedom of association from across the OSCE region. In addition to their expertise, panel members were selected with a view to ensuring a gender- and age-balanced composition as well as geographical representation from across the OSCE region.
The Panel consists of:
- Ena Bavcic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- Anja Bienert (Germany, reappointment)
- Adam Bodnar (Poland)
- Milena Costas Trascasas (Spain, reappointment)
- Tatiana Glushkova (Russian Federation)
- David Goldberger (United States, Emeritus, reappointment)
- Jane Gordon (United Kingdom)
- Katerina Hadzi-Miceva Evans (North Macedonia, reappointment)
- Michael Hamilton (United Kingdom/Ireland, reappointment)
- Rafael Ishkhanyan (Armenia)
- Nela Larysova (Czech Republic)
- Jeremy McBride (United Kingdom/Ireland)
- Jonathan Peters (United States of America)
- Denis Shedov (Russian Federation)
- Volodymyr Yavorskyy (Ukraine)
- Yevgeniy Zhovtis (Kazakhstan, reappointment)
The panel has been acting as an advisory and consultative body to ODIHR since its establishment in 2006. Initially focusing only on freedom of peaceful assembly, its mandate was expanded to also cover freedom of association-related issues in 2015.
The main role of the panel is to provide advice, guidance and recommendations to ODIHR, and through ODIHR to countries across the OSCE. In this way, ODIHR helps to ensure legislation on freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association is in line with international human rights standards throughout the region.