News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Good lawmaking a cornerstone of democracy and human rights protection, OSCE leaders say
Publishing date: 26 April 2021
VIENNA/WARSAW, 26 April 2021 – Transparent, inclusive lawmaking is vital to underpin democracies and the principles on which they are built, OSCE leaders said as a two-day meeting to discuss topics including the challenges and opportunities of crafting laws in periods of crisis opened today...
Romania parliamentary elections 2020: OSCE/ODIHR Special election assessment mission final report
Publishing date: 23 April 2021
The 2020 parliamentary elections in Romania were competitive, respecting fundamental freedoms, and organized professionally, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the late adoption of a number of regulations. While the legal framework generally provided for the conduct of democratic
OSCE PA Special Representative Ben Cardin’s statement on Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict
Publishing date: 21 April 2021
COPENHAGEN, 21 April 2021 – United States Senator Ben Cardin, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on Anti-Semitism, Racism and Intolerance, on Tuesday issued the following statement in response to former police officer Derek Chauvin being convicted in the death of George Floyd:..
Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan holds series of awareness-raising seminars on the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture
Publishing date: 20 April 2021
In the period between 7 and 13 April 2021, the Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) carried out a series of awareness-raising seminars on the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture. The seminars were organized jointly with the Authorized Person of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Human Rights (Ombudsperson).
OSCE Presence and Albania’s Constitutional Court sign Memorandum of Understanding on strengthening Court’s capacities
Publishing date: 14 April 2021
Vincenzo Del Monaco, Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania and Chair of Albania’s Constitutional Court Vitore Tusha, signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 14 April 2021, to strengthen co-operation for advancing the capacities of the Court to perform its work in line with international standards.
Enable Roma communities to recover from the pandemic, say human rights heads
Publishing date: 8 April 2021
WARSAW/VIENNA, 8 April 2021 – All societies still feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the challenges for Roma are particularly acute, say the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on International Roma Day
OSCE human rights head voices serious concerns over continued rights violations in Belarus, offers monitoring
Publishing date: 6 April 2021
WARSAW, 6 April 2021 – The numerous credible reports of criminal charges, administrative detention, intimidation and harassment targeting Belarusian citizens and human rights defenders simply for going about their lives or carrying out their work that have reached the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in recent months, are of increasing concern amid the ongoing human rights violations in the country.