News and press releases

An OSCE-supported four-day training seminar titled “Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Inhuman Treatment in Accordance with the Istanbul Protocol” started on 24 July 2017 in Astana...

VIENNA, 24 July 2017 – The start of the trial against journalists and board members of the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet today highlights the urgent need to protect journalism and improve media freedom in Turkey, Harlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media stated...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. On two occasions the Mission interrupted unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flights due to ceasefire violations near them, assessed at least on one occasion as aimed at the UAV.* The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties and damage to civilian properties caused by shelling in Kashtanove and in Donetsk city.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. In the Trudovskyi area of Petrovskyi district in Donetsk city, an armed man told the Mission not to fly an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); the SMM then heard small-arms fire near the area where it was flying the UAV.* The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties and damage to civilian properties caused by shelling in Donetsk city.

Moscow, 21 July 2017- The Conference on “Public-Private Partnership in the Fight Against Human Trafficking” organized by the OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, in co-operation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, concluded today at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

WARSAW, 21 July 2017 – Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir of Iceland assumed her new duties on Friday as Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission confirmed reports of civilian casualties in Avdiivka and Staromykhailivka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement areas, and an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle spotted tracks of an armoured combat vehicle and a crater in the Petrivske disengagement area. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere, including in Popasna and Novoazovsk.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Shchastia, Bakhmut and Nikishyne. It facilitated and monitored mine and unexploded ordnance clearance, co-ordinated by the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination, along the M03 road between Svitlodarsk and Debaltseve, and observed clearance activities in Pryshyb, Nikishyne, and Pyshchevyk. The Mission continued to observe mines and unexploded ordnance, as well as mine hazard signs, on both sides of the contact line. The SMM facilitated repairs to four pieces of critical infrastructure in Luhansk region. It visited two border areas not under government control...