News and press releases

VILNIUS, 18 December 2011 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis expressed his sadness today at the death of former Czech President Vaclav Havel and paid tribute to his courage and vision for a free Europe...

BELGRADE, 14 December 2011 – In recognition of the contribution made by Serbia’s independent agencies and bodies in protecting and advancing human rights, equality, government accountability and citizens’ participation in the country, the heads of three institutions will receive the OSCE Mission to Serbia’s “People of the Year” awards at a ceremony in Belgrade today...

BAKU, 13 December 2011 – Today the OSCE Office in Baku presented an Azerbaijani-language version of the Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel...

The OSCE Office in Tajikistan together with its field offices in Garm, Khujand, Shartuz and Kulyab and the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, the Executive Office of the President and civil society partners concluded a week of events dedicated to the 63rd anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 9 December 2011...

WARSAW, 9 December 2011 – One year after the OSCE participating States promised to step up their efforts to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, tangible progress remains elusive, said Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, the Director of ODIHR, ahead of international Human Rights Day...

Speaking at the conference “Freedom Online” in the Hague on 9 December 2011, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, emphasized the obligation of governments to ensure freedom of the Internet, including giving citizens unrestricted access to multiple sources of information...

VIENNA, 9 December 2011-- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, urged today Russian authorities to protect journalists reporting from the scene of street protests from detention and police harassment...