News and press releases

Foča, 13 October 2025 – Today in Foča, dedicated professionals from the police, judiciary, prosecution, and social welfare sectors, as well as psychologists and members of civil society from across eastern Republika Srpska (RS), joined the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (Mission) to address

The sharp rise in the number of war crimes trials being heard by local courts across the OSCE region was the topic of discussion during a side event at the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference entitled “Beyond the Hague: the OSCE and current challenges in securing justice for victims of war crimes”, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group, a civil society partner from Ukraine.

Monitoring trials is an effective means to safeguard fair trial rights, strengthen accountability and build public confidence in the judiciary, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) underlined at a side event of the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference today.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has conducted over 600 interviews to document alleged violations of human rights and humanitarian law through its Ukraine Monitoring Initiative (UMI).

Mostar, 10 October 2025 – From 8 to 10 October, the Faculty of Law of the University of Mostar, in co-operation with the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina (HJPC BiH) and the OSCE Mission to BiH (Mission), organized the Fourth State University Moot Court Competition

The Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ambassador Rick Holtzapple, completed today a two-day visit to Banja Luka, where he met with political, institutional, and civil society actors to reaffirm the Mission’s commitment to supporting democracy, rule of law, human rights, and inter-institutional dialogue in BiH.

For 25 years, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has been helping states strengthen their electoral laws to ensure the transparency and integrity of elections and to bring countries’ legal frameworks in line with OSCE commitments and other international standards.