News and press releases

A seminar on working with convicted violent extremists, including returning foreign terrorist fighters and their families, organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana, was held on 4 and 5 December 2018 in Astana...

Human rights and contemporary challenges to national security were the focus of the OSCE-supported Youth Legal Forum dedicated to the 70th Anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights that concluded on 12 December 2018 in Astana...

The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek organized a series of lectures aimed at raising awareness about consequences and criminal liability of bride kidnapping within the worldwide campaign 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence...

Raising awareness about the specific nature of hate crime in the Czech Republic was the purpose of a seminar organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Czech Republic’s Government Agent for Human Rights in Prague on 11 December 2018. The participants –

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. SMM unmanned aerial vehicles spotted destroyed houses in the south-eastern part of Pivdenne in Donetsk region and fresh craters in residential areas of Zolote-4/Rodina and Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, in Luhansk region. The SMM saw a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines in Oleksandro-Kalynove. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to water and electric infrastructure on both sides of the contact line and to damaged houses in Marinka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted near Siedove and Dovzhanske – close to the border with the Russian Federation – and near Popasne.

Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons increased at both BCPs compared to the previous week...

OSCE participating States should act more decisively to enhance the participation of Roma and Sinti in public and political life, participants said at an event in Vienna on 11 December 2018. The event was organized to present a report by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) assessing the status of implementation of the Action Plan on Improving the Situation of Roma and Sinti within the OSCE Area.