News and press releases

VIENNA, 24 July 2018- OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, welcomed today the recent agreement between the authorities and the media community in the Netherlands to counter threats and violence against journalists. The move comes against the background of the deteriorating safety climate for media workers.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. Small-arms fire was assessed as directed at an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle in Artema. The Mission followed up on two civilian casualties caused by an explosion in a courtyard in Marinka. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded a ceasefire violation near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and Shchastia, as well as again near Zaichenko and Bezimenne in non-government-controlled areas of southern Donetsk region. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM saw demining near road T-1314 north of Shyrokyi. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical civilian infrastructure near Artema, Zalizne, Nelipivka and Novotoshkivske. In Odessa, the SMM saw anti-Semitic graffiti.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region between the evenings of 20 and 21 July compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 21 and 22 July, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three areas as well as, again, near Zaichenko and Bezimenne in non-government-controlled areas of southern Donetsk region. The SMM observed a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines near Vrubivka. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical civilian infrastructure near Nelipivka and Novotoshkivske. In Dnipropetrovsk region, the SMM observed 30 young adults participating in a parade aimed at promoting human rights regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Some 130 representatives from Kazakhstan’s Parliament, central and local government authorities, academia and civil society, as well as experts from both Kazakhstan and Russia, participated in an OSCE-supported international conference on transboundary co-operation in the Zhaiyk (Ural) river basin on 23 July 2018 in Uralsk, Western Kazakhstan...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded a ceasefire violation near the Zolote disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three areas as well as, again, near Verkhnoshyrokivske, Siedove and Bezimenne in non-government-controlled areas of southern Donetsk region. The SMM observed a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines near Korsun. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical civilian infrastructure near Nelipivka, Zalizne, Bolotene, Novotoshkivske and Zolote-5. It observed again that the wooden ramps on the broken section of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge were unstable...

TBILISI, 20 July 2018- The 15th South Caucasus Media Conference, a two-day annual meeting organized by the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, concluded yesterday...

Building the capacity of Polish police forces to provide training on effective and human rights-compliant policing in Roma communities was the focus of a course organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in co-operation with the Regional Police Headquarters in Krakow, in Zakopane, Poland from 17 to 20 July 2018.