News and press releases

KYIV, 22 March 2018 – The Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), Ertugrul Apakan, welcomed today the extension of the SMM’s mandate for another year, stressing that the consensus decision of the OSCE’s 57 participating States constitutes both a continued commitment to the people of Ukraine and an endorsement of the Mission...

VIENNA, 22 March 2018 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today welcomed the release of Uzbek journalist Gayrat Mikhliboev...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed damage near residential areas as a result of shelling in Sakhanka and Dovhe. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Izvaryne at a border crossing point near the border with the Russian Federation.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to a pumping station near Artema, power lines near Svitlodarsk and continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM visited a border area outside of government control.*...

In preparation for the Third UN Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation of the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), which will take place in June 2018, the OSCE’s Conflict Prevention Centre, jointly with Germany and France, organized a side event on 20 March 2018 in New York to present the recently adopted OSCE Best Practice Guide on Deactivation of SALW to the UN Member States and inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations...

International standards guaranteeing the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and key principles and good practices for policing assemblies in a human rights-compliant way were the focus of an event organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 21 March 2018 in Kyiv. The event marked the launch of the Ukrainian-language version of ODIHR’s Human Rights Handbook on Policing Assemblies.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed damage near residential areas as a result of shelling in Sakhanka and Dovhe. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Izvaryne at a border crossing point near the border with the Russian Federation.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to a pumping station near Artema, power lines near Svitlodarsk and continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM visited a border area outside of government control.*...

STRASBOURG / WARSAW / VIENNA, 21 March 2018. Promoting equality and combating racism are essential to fortify social cohesion and democratic security, the heads of three European human rights institutions said in a joint statement on today’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination...