News and press releases

WARSAW, 10 December 2020 – On Human Rights Day, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) pays tribute to human rights defenders and many organizations across the OSCE region that have protected our rights throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and will have a key role to play if the global recovery is to put respect for human rights at its core.

WARSAW, 13 November 2020 – As pervasive violations of OSCE commitments and international human rights obligations in Belarus continue, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) calls on the country’s authorities to end impunity of those responsible for human rights violations, up to and including deaths, and hold them to account...

The follow-up to the recommendations of election observation missions in the Western Balkans topped the agenda of an online conference organized by the OSCE Office Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 10 November 2020. The conference focused on the extent and modalities of the

VIENNA/WARSAW, 9 November 2020 – As freedom of religion or belief comes increasingly under pressure, the need to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technologies and at the same time minimize the dangers they pose is becoming ever more important. This topic is the focus of the OSCE’s final human rights conference of the year, beginning today...

WARSAW, 9 October 2020 – Ahead of tomorrow’s World Day against the Death Penalty, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) emphasized in its new report that individuals facing the death penalty must have access to fair trial guarantees, the right of pardon or commutation, and equal protection of the law without discrimination...

WARSAW/VIENNA, 28 September 2020 – The increasing challenges to the rights and freedoms at the heart of the OSCE commitments to human rights and democracy made 30 years ago, as well as the need for a greater understanding that only a dialogue based on mutual respect will enable us to overcome our common challenges, form the backdrop for a month-long series of webinars beginning today...

Seventeen OSCE participating States invoked the OSCE’s so-called Moscow Mechanism on 17 September 2020. Seventeen OSCE participating States invoked the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism on 17 September 2020 to examine alleged human rights violations in Belarus. The Moscow Mechanism, last invoked in 2018 in