News and press releases

WARSAW, 10 October 2016 – Today, on the occasion of the International Day against the Death Penalty, Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), called on those OSCE countries that continue to apply the death penalty or maintain it in law to continue to consider its complete abolition, in the context of the international debate linking the practice with torture and other ill-treatment...

An online service for state registration of land ownership developed with the support of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine was launched in a pilot version on Monday, 10 October 2016. The digital tool, e.land.gov.ua, was developed at the request of and in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Geological Registry Service and the State Agency on E-Governance. The new service is currently being offered in Kyiv city and the Chernihiv region. It will be accessible for all Ukrainians as of 1 January 2017...

TBILISI, 9 October 2016 – The 8 October parliamentary elections in Georgia were competitive, well-administered and fundamental freedoms were generally respected. The otherwise calm and open campaign atmosphere was, however, impacted by allegations of unlawful campaigning and some incidents of violence, the international observers concluded in a preliminary statement released today...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, including 363 explosions compared with the previous reporting period (848 explosions). In Luhansk region the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including 29 explosions compared with nine during the previous reporting period, while 23 of the explosions were attributable to live-fire exercises outside the security zone. The Mission continued to monitor the disengagement process in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; the SMM was restricted in its freedom of movement in all three areas.* The SMM observed pullback of forces and hardware from the disengagement area both in Petrivske and Bohdanivka following the announcement by both Ukrainian and Russian Armed Forces representatives to the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) about the start of disengagement. The Mission monitored the withdrawal of weapons and saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines. The SMM monitored the situation of internally displaced persons in Odessa...

At 17:45 on 7 October, an SMM patrol visited the Oktiabr mine (“DPR”-controlled, 8km north-west of Donetsk city centre) to inspect the SMM camera located at the site. While on the first floor of the mineshaft tower where the camera is installed, the SMM heard movement in the upper levels...

The SMM recorded a significantly higher number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous reporting period. In Luhansk region the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of shooting in Marinka. The Mission continued to monitor the disengagement process in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; the SMM was restricted in its freedom of movement in all three areas. The SMM monitored the situation of civilians living near the contact line and of civilians queuing at entry-exit checkpoints. The SMM visited border areas outside government control, as well as border areas in Chernihiv and Vinnytsia...

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro in co-operation with the Union of Municipalities supported the first constituent session of the co-ordination team for the management of the Municipal Project Managers Network on 5 October 2016 in Podgorica...