News and press releases

WARSAW, 13 April 2017 Michael Georg Link, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today called on Russian Federation authorities to urgently investigate the alleged disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment against men in Chechnya based on their real or perceived sexual orientation.

The SMM observed fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM heard and felt explosions within 500m near Molodizhne and Pervomaisk. It followed up on a report of a civilian casualty as the result of a detonation of an explosive device in Vesela Tarasivka. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal line in non-government-controlled areas. It visited one border area currently not controlled by the Government. The SMM continued to monitor the status of the blockade of railway routes, noting again that obstacles on the railroad tracks near Hirske were no longer present. The Mission monitored the continuation of protests outside banks in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa and Dnipro...

Some 25 women entrepreneurs from rural areas of the Akmola Region took part in the first in a series of three OSCE-supported training seminars on the application of green technologies in Arnasai, a village near Astana, on 13 April 2017...

MINSK, 13 April 2017 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its working groups in Minsk on 12 April 2017:..

On 12 April an SMM patrol consisting of five members and two armoured vehicles was travelling from government-controlled Katerynivka (64km west of Luhansk) to Popasna (69km west of Luhansk), 1.2km west of Zolote/Pervomaisk disengagement area. At 10:07, while driving, the SMM heard one undetermined explosion and saw black smoke in a forested area 200-250m south of its position. Less than a minute later, while the SMM continued driving west for about 100 metres to leave the area, the SMM heard another undetermined explosion at an unknown distance and direction. At 12:35 the patrol safely arrived at its base in Sievierodonetsk. No SMM members were hurt or vehicles damaged...

The SMM observed more ceasefire violations in Donetsk but fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission heard small-arms fire assessed as aimed at an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle flying near Staryi Aidar. It followed up on reports of civilian casualties and damage to residences from shelling and gunfire in Dokuchaievsk, Marinka and Khreshchatytske. The SMM monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. It visited four border areas currently not controlled by the Government. The SMM continued to monitor the status of the blockade of railway routes, noting that obstacles on the railroad tracks near Hirske were no longer present. The Mission monitored the continuation of protests in Poltava, Kyiv and Kharkiv. In Kyiv it also followed up on a media report of an explosion at a cafe...

State and civil society representatives from across Ukraine met as part of the Third National Confidence and Capacity-Building Event in Kyiv on 11 and 12 April 2017. The event, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), provided a forum to improve co-operation between state institutions and civil society groups to address hate crime...