News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Parliaments vital for strong democracies in times of crisis, OSCE human rights and parliamentary heads say
Publishing date: 21 April 2020
Warsaw/Copenhagen, 21 April 2020 – A strong role for parliaments is crucial to the transparency and accountability of government measures as the COVID-19 pandemic puts our democracies to the test, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) said in a statement today...
OSCE Mission to BiH, OHR, US Embassy, UK Embassy and EU and EUSR urge all institutions to make prevention of corruption integral part of fight against COVID-19
Publishing date: 7 April 2020
The OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Office of the High Representative, the U.S. Embassy in BiH, British Embassy in Sarajevo, the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina and EU Special Representative note the introduction of a number of measures by the institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) aimed at combating and preventing the spread of COVID-19, and also alleviating its negative socio-economic impacts....
OSCE Mission to Skopje and its partners call for proactive approach on domestic violence prevention
Publishing date: 6 April 2020
SKOPJE, 6 April 2020- The OSCE Mission to Skopje, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of North Macedonia and the National Network to End Violence against Women and Domestic Violence call upon the relevant actors to make additional efforts to prevent domestic violence during the COVID-19 crisis and to put in place effective victim protection mechanisms...
Indefinite rule by decree in Hungary's COVID-19 response a serious concern, say OSCE PA human rights leaders
Publishing date: 1 April 2020
COPENHAGEN, 1 April 2020 – The granting of emergency powers in Hungary that enable the government to rule by decree without a foreseen termination date is a dangerous step that undermines democracy in the country, said OSCE PA human rights leaders today.
ODIHR encourages Belarus to continue work on strengthened judicial independence, promotion of human rights and support for women leaders
Publishing date: 27 February 2020
Greater efforts and co-operation are needed to achieve a more independent justice system, educate citizens about human rights and strengthen women’s leadership in Belarus, said Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), addressing
Judge Korner concludes assessment visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, on implementation of war crimes processing
Publishing date: 29 January 2020
Judge Joanna Korner CMG QC concluded today her visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina devoted to assessing the implementation of the recommendations provided in her earlier, 2016, OSCE-supported Report on war crimes processing at the state level in BiH...
Political wrangling compromises the independence of appointments to Georgia’s highest court, ODIHR report finds
Publishing date: 9 January 2020
WARSAW, 9 January 2020 – While legal reforms regulating the appointment of Supreme Court judges in Georgia are an important step toward improving the independence of the judiciary, they fail to ensure an impartial process based on clearly defined and objective criteria without the influence of partisan politics, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in its second monitoring report, published today.