News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
ODIHR Director Link expresses concern over sentencing of officials of political party banned in Tajikistan
Publishing date: 3 June 2016
WARSAW, 3 June 2016 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), expressed concern today over yesterday’s sentencing by a court in Dushanbe of two leaders of the banned Islamic Renaissance Party (IRPT) to life imprisonment, and 11 other high-ranking party officials to jail terms ranging from two to 28 years...
Judges and prosecutors in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at OSCE meeting, learn about videoconferencing to reach remote witnesses
Publishing date: 27 May 2016
ISTOČNO SARAJEVO / BRČKO DISTRICT, 27 May 2016 – The use of videoconferencing for interviewing witnesses at remote locations was the focus of a two-day peer-to-peer meeting the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina organized for judges and prosecutors who are working on war crimes cases in courts and prosecutors' offices at the entity level and Brčko District...
Estonia’s Foreign Minister Marina Kaljurand addresses PC, expresses support for Europe’s fundamental values – human rights, democracy and rule of law
Publishing date: 26 May 2016
VIENNA, 26 May 2016 – Addressing the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna today Estonia’s Foreign Minister and Chair of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers Marina Kaljurand underlined her country’s strong support for Europe’s fundamental values – human rights, democracy and the rule of law – and called for mutual efforts and co-operation in addressing the unresolved protracted conflicts...
OSCE Presence launches nationwide ‘Justice without delays’ initiative in Albania
Publishing date: 25 May 2016
SHKODRA, Albania, 25 May 2016 – The OSCE Presence in Albania, USAID and the Austrian Development Co-operation launched a new phase of the ‘Justice without delays’ initiative today in Shkodra, Albania, with the aim of increasing the efficiency of court proceedings by reducing unnecessary hold ups...
Newly-published handbook on theory of law presented by OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
Publishing date: 25 May 2016
The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and its longstanding partner, the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, on 20 May 2016 presented a handbook on the theory of law, one of the fundamental legal disciplines, which was developed by a group of prominent researchers from the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University under the leadership of Professor Mykola Koziubra...
ODIHR Director Link welcomes U.S. Supreme Court decision throwing out conviction, death sentence of African-American man from all-white jury
Publishing date: 24 May 2016
WARSAW, 24 May 2016 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), welcomed the decision on 23 May by the United States Supreme Court upending the conviction and death sentence of an African American man, Timothy Tyrone Foster, on the basis that prosecutors had excluded African-Americans from the jury at his trial...
ODIHR Director Link and OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Kanerva express concerns over vote by Turkish parliament to strip certain deputies of immunity
Publishing date: 24 May 2016
WARSAW/COPENHAGEN, 24 May 2016 – In a joint statement, Ilkka Kanerva, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, expressed concern today over a constitutional amendment passed by the Turkish parliament stripping certain members of their immunity from prosecution...