News and press releases

The second in a series of OSCE workshops on the development of guidelines and a training module for better co-ordinated, harmonized and victim-centred identification of human trafficking cases among mixed migration flows concluded in Athens on 20 June 2018. The one-day event was organized jointly by the OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (OSR/CTHB) and the Office of the National Rapporteur on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece.

Promoting dialogue to reflect on opportunities and challenges related to democratic representation in the age of rising populism was the focus of a conference co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Brussels from 18 to 20 June 2018. The conference,

A two-day high-level international conference on the International Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development, 2018-2028” started in Dushanbe on 20 June 2018. The Conference is organized by the government of the Republic of Tajikistan in co-operation with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Water and in partnership with the OSCE and other international organizations

WARSAW, 20 June 2018 – While the countries in the OSCE region have committed themselves to protecting the human rights of all refugees, they also have the responsibility to ensure the security and dignified treatment of all individuals wanting to cross borders, especially the most vulnerable and those at the greatest risk, Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), said on today’s World Refugee Day...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission observed fresh damage caused by shelling in residential areas of Pikuzy and Novotoshkivske. Small arms were fired in the direction of an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) near Petrivske, assessed as targeting the UAV. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and the Petrivske disengagement areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, and was also restricted near Izvaryne and Sievernyi at the border with the Russian Federation as well as near Holmivskyi and Zachativka. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Oleksandropil and Khlibodarivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station. The SMM facilitated and monitored repairs of the water distribution network in Stanytsia Luhanska, the Petrivske pumping station near Artema and the Zolote-Popasna water pipeline. In Odessa, the Mission monitored a gathering in front of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation...

MINSK, 19 June 2018 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today launched the two-year, European Union-funded project “Promoting Democratization and Human Rights in Belarus”, with two days of seminars in Minsk focusing on fair-trial rights...

COPENHAGEN, 19 June 2018 – Ignacio Sanchez Amor (MP, Spain), Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee, today criticized the U.S. government’s violation of human rights and humanitarian standards in its treatment of migrants – and especially migrant children – attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border...