News and press releases

A two-day seminar hosted by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) on ethics, conflict of interest, and disciplinary practices for judges and prosecutors from across BiH started on 17 November 2021 in Sarajevo. The event aims to help improve the integrity, independence, and accountability of BiH judiciary...

STOCKHOLM/VIENNA, 16 November 2021- In a world shaped by ever-increasing divisions within nations and societies the need for tolerance could not be greater. The problems we face are clearly demonstrated in the most recent 2021 Hate Crime Report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in numerous instances of stereotyping, scapegoating, and stigmatization. It has fueled hate-motivated attacks both online and offline directed at persons in vulnerable situations, at persons belonging to minorities, including ethnic and religious groups and anti-Semitic attacks and hate-crimes against Muslims, Christians and members of other religions, Roma and Sinti, migrants and refugees, and people of Asian descent. They are not only a catastrophe for the victims and a breach of human rights, but they damage the social cohesion of our society at large. Trust and solidarity are lost, and democracy is threatened.

WARSAW, 16 November 2021 – More decisive action needs to be taken across the OSCE region to work towards eliminating violence against women, who continue to face violence in both public and private, OSCE leaders said on the opening of a two-day conference dedicated to preventing and combating violence against women and girls

WARSAW, 15 November 2021 – While many countries across the OSCE are taking greater efforts to combat hate crime, more action needs to be taken to increase knowledge of the true number of hate crimes committed and more done to support victims, said the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on publishing its annual hate crime report ahead of the 2021 International Day for Tolerance.

SARAJEVO, 11 November 2021 – Kathleen Kavalec, Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and Selmo Cikotić, BiH Minister of Security, signed today an agreement to implement a small arms and light weapons (SALW) control project over the next three years.

Judges and prosecutors from across the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina worked to improve the efficiency of trials and reduce the length of proceedings during a workshop held on 5 November 2021 in Teslić. The event was organized by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina in co-operation with the Federation’s Judicial and Prosecutorial Training Centre.

Developing and strengthening the engagement between the police and the community in order to prevent and counter violent extremisms and radicalisation that lead to terrorism was the aim of an OSCE training course held from 3 to 5 November 2021 in Skopje.