News and press releases

The SMM accompanied investigators who accessed the crash site of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17. Ukrainian soldiers/border guards crossed into the Russian Federation after coming under attack from militants and having run out of supplies, and later, having returned to Ukraine through a different border crossing point, allegedly came under fire in the Donetsk region. There have been protests in several locations against alleged police brutality.

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKY, Russian Federation, 6 August 2014- This report details the arrival of the Observer Mission (OM) in the Russian Federation and the installation of the Mission in Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy. Also noted is the start of observation at the border checkpoints, fighting close to the Gukovo border checkpoint, and the crossing of 12 and then 437 Ukrainian servicemen into the Russian Federation...

This update is provided for media and general public. The SMM facilitated access to the Malaysia Airline Flight MH17 wreckage site for Dutch, Malaysian and Australian experts who are investigating the crash. The SMM observed damage caused by apparent shelling around Donetsk airport.

VIENNA, 5 August 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today said that she was worried about new reports that more journalists have gone missing in Ukraine...

VIENNA, 5 August 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today voiced concern about continuing hostility toward the media in Azerbaijan following the arrest on 2 August of Rasul Jafarov, a free expression advocate and human rights defender...

COPENHAGEN, 5 August 2014 – Joao Soares (MP, Portugal), the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on the South Caucasus, today expressed deep concern over recent deadly violence along the Line of Contact and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and urged all parties to the conflict to recommit themselves to finding a peaceful resolution...

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKY, Russian Federation, 4 August 2014- On 1-2 August 2014 Ukrainian army officers made contact with the OSCE Observer Mission (OM) to request OSCE assistance to open a passageway to the Gukovo border crossing point (BCP) of the Russian Federation (RF) for several hundred Ukrainian servicemen. On 2 August, an initial group of 12 Ukrainian troops crossed into the RF. On 4 August, the OSCE Observer Mission witnessed the passage of 437 Ukrainian servicemen. They were sent to a nearby transit facility and, according to the local Russian authorities, all of them were set to return to Ukraine in the hours to come.

Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Russian Federation, 3 August 2014- Fighting between Ukrainian troops and militants resumed around Gukovo Border Crossing Point (BCP). Two shells fell in the BCP compound one of which provoked light building damage.

The SMM – accompanied by Dutch and Australian investigators – accessed the wreckage site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. Despite instances of shelling in the general area, the investigators retrieved the personal belongings of victims and some human remains. The SMM received information suggesting that shelling in Luhansk city was increasingly impacting on the civilian population...

TBILISI, 4 August 2014 – Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on the conflict dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference, made the following statement today following recent media reports...

VIENNA, 4 August 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović said today she was saddened by the death of journalist and blogger Timur Kuashev whose body was found in a suburb of Nalchik, in Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia...

VIENNA, 4 August 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today condemned the seizure of the property of the Chernomorskaya company, the largest independent broadcaster on the Crimean peninsula...

COPENHAGEN, 3 August 2014 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) issued the following statement today on the passing of Barbara Prammer, President of the Austrian National Council (Nationalrat) and Head of Austria’s Delegation to the PA:

BERN/MOSCOW/PARIS/WASHINGTON, 2 August 2014 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister, Didier Burkhalter, together with the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France, expressed their deep concern about the intense upsurge in violence along the Line of Contact and Armenian-Azerbaijani border that resulted in numerous casualties reported in recent days. They extended their condolences to the families of the victims and shared the anguish of their grievous losses...

The SMM accessed the crash site of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, together with an investigative team of Australian and Dutch experts – the first occasion since Friday 25 July on which a full visit had been possible. The SMM also visited the outskirts of Donetsk city to assess artillery damage...

COPENHAGEN, 2 August 2014 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Ilkka Kanerva (MP, Finland) issued the following statement today on the death of Assembly member Vladimir Kulakov of Russia:

A two-day forum, supported by the OSCE Centre in Astana, on the role of public participation in improving environmental conditions at the Shuchinsk-Burabay recreation area was held at the Borovoe resort, near Kazakhstan’s capital from 31 July to 1 August 2014.

No changes at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17 near Hrabove were observed by the SMM. Shelling on the outskirts of Donetsk persisted. Entrepreneurs from Kharkiv reported to the SMM on the negative economic consequences of the conflict in Donbas on their business. Concerns about a partial mobilisation, being carried out in Ukraine, are being raised by interlocutors of the SMM...

COPENHAGEN, 1 August 2014 – Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, today deplored the intensifying crackdown on civil society in Azerbaijan and called on authorities to quickly reverse the trend...

VIENNA, 1 August 2014 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today expressed concern about a Latvian court decision to freeze the assets of Ir, a public affairs magazine, based on a pending damage claim for libel...

The OSCE Centre in Bishkek in co-operation with the UN Development Programme supported the Music and Drama Theatre of Batken, a city in south Kyrgyzstan, to premiere the play “Friends” on 31 July 2014...

CHISINAU, 1 August 2014 – The new Head of the OSCE Mission to Moldova, Ambassador Michael Scanlan, took up his position today in Chisinau...

WARSAW, 1 August 2014 – Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), speaking ahead of Saturday’s 70th anniversary of the liquidation of the “Zigeunerlager”, or “Gypsy Camp”, at Auschwitz-Birkenau called today on political leaders not only to refrain from scapegoating Roma and Sinti communities, but also to speak out against racist rhetoric in public discourse that can fuel anti-Roma sentiment in society...

The first in a series of OSCE-supported training seminar for rural and small town municipalities aimed at strengthening local self-government across the country was held on 1 August 2014 in Aktobe, Western Kazakhstan...

As of 30 July, Tthe SMM support group dealing with MH17 was unable to access the crash-site for the fourth day in succession owing to fighting and security concerns- the last visit was Friday 25 July. [Note – the SMM successfully reached the crash site today 31 July]. The SMM monitored the evacuation of civilians via the “Green Corridor” in Luhansk region...

MINSK, 31 July 2014- The Trilateral Contact Group of senior representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office had a face-to-face meeting in Minsk on July 31, 2014 with representatives of separatist groups from eastern regions of Ukraine...

COPENHAGEN, 31 July 2014 – Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, today expressed regret over the 30 July ruling by a Kazakhstani court to deny parole to jailed labour activist Roza Tuletayeva...

The Community Security Initiative (CSI) team in Kyrgyzstan on 31 July 2014 presented the OSCE-prepared guidebook on “Preventing Terrorism and Countering Violent Extremism and Radicalization that lead to Terrorism: A Community-Policing Approach”...

Building the capacity of civil society to address human rights violations committed in the business sphere was the aim of an OSCE-supported training seminar that took place in Almaty on 31 July 2014...

Head of the Human Rights Department of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Snježana Bokulić visited prominent human rights defender and journalist Azimjan Askarov in prison in Bishkek on 30 July 2014.

The SMM visited Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region, which was retaken by the Ukrainian army. The situation in Donetsk deteriorated. The SMM visited three areas of Donetsk city after an explosion and assessed the damage...

On 30 July 2014 the 47th meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place in Ergneti, co-facilitated by Toivo Klaar, the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), and Ambassador Angelo Gnaedinger, the Special Representative of the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship for the South Caucasus...

A summer environmental camp "Borderline Commonwealth: Issyk-Kul 2014" organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek in co-operation with the State Border Service was opened on 25 July 2014 on the lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan...

The SMM visited Rubizhne and Shchastia – towns in the Luhansk region, which had been retaken in recent weeks by the Ukrainian army. The situation in both locations has been slowly normalising...

COPENHAGEN, 29 July 2014 – OSCE parliamentarians will travel to Turkey next week to observe the country’s upcoming presidential election and provide leadership for the OSCE's short-term observer mission...

Armenia’s Draft Law on Identification of and Assistance to the Victims of Human Trafficking was in focus of a discussion held by the OSCE Office in Yerevan for government officials and representatives of civil society from 25 to 27 July 2014 in Aghveran, Armenia...

The safety of hydraulic structures was the focus of a two-day training seminar for more than 30 representatives of the Water Resources Committee and the Emergency Situations Ministry of Kazakhstan, which concluded on 29 July 2014 in Astana. The event was co-organized by the OSCE Centre in Astana...

COPENHAGEN, 25 July 2014 – Isabel Santos (MP, Portugal), the Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, today expressed concern over events this week in Russia that appear aimed at stifling civil society and political dissent...

Fighting in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions continued. The MH17 investigative team was unable to access the crash site owing to fighting in the area. The mayor of Kremenchuk city was assassinated. Protests against partial mobilisation in Chernivtsi region persisted. The Right Sector in Ivano-Frankivsk is organising a blockade of local Lukoil petrol stations.

The human remains of more victims of the Malaysia Airlines crash were flown to the Netherlands. Protests against military mobilisation continued in western Ukraine.

The remains of some of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash were flown from Kharkiv to the Netherlands. There were a number of protests against military mobilisation in the west of the country.

VIENNA, 25 July 2014 – OSCE Representative of Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today demanded the immediate release of journalists who were reported missing in eastern Ukraine...

ASHGABAT, 25 July 2014 –OSCE efforts to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 on non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their means of delivery was a focus at an OSCE-supported roundtable discussion that concluded in Ashgabat today...

Eighteen highly experienced trainers and police officers from 13 OSCE participating States gathered in Warsaw from 23 to 25 July 2014 as part of a training-of-trainers event, organized by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The training was provided as part of ODIHR’s Training Against Hate Crimes for Law Enforcement (TAHCLE) programme, and builds on a 2012 event held together with the Association of European Police Colleges in Lyon, and was organized with their support.

SARAJEVO, 25 July 2014 – The Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fletcher M. Burton, today called upon the citizens of Brcko District to determine their citizenship before 28 August 2014 so that they can participate in the upcoming general elections...

A three-day OSCE-supported national workshop on the prevention, detection and suppression of corruption-related crimes in Kazakhstan concluded on 25 July 2014 in Astana...

At an event in Podgorica held on 22 July 2014, the OSCE Mission to Montenegro presented the book “Civil Aspects of Protection of Individual Rights and Freedom of the Media”...

The SMM facilitated access of Malaysian experts to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 and attended a mourning ceremony at Kharkiv’s international airport. Fighting in parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions continued...

WASHINGTON D.C., 24 July 2014 – The OSCE Chairperson’s Personal Representatives on combatting discrimination and promoting tolerance on 21 to 23 July 2014 made their first joint country visit to the United States where they identified problems, best practices as well as gaps in policy, activities and legislation, and areas where the OSCE can provide further support.

The establishment of a national torture prevention mechanism in accordance with international standards was the focus of a three-days training course organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), in co-operation with the Office of the Ombudsperson, in Tashkent, from 22 to 24 July 2014.