News and press releases

The OSCE Office in Baku organized a train-the-trainers workshop on the role of social workers in the prevention of domestic violence. More than 20 participants working in various shelters and family support centres attended the three-day event from 13 to 15 December 2011.

VIENNA, 16 December 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, condemned today the killing of journalist Khadzhimurad Kamalov in Russia’s southern republic of Daghestan and urged the authorities to ensure the safety of all media professionals working in the region...

BISHKEK, 16 December 2011 – After visiting prominent human rights defender Azimjan Askarov in prison, a delegation from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today urged Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court to take fair trial violations and indications of torture into account when reviewing the case of Askarov and other defendants convicted in relation to the June 2010 violence in the south of the country...

DUSHANBE, 15 December 2011- Preventing torture through education and systematic oversight was the focus of a roundtable meeting organized today by the OSCE Office in Tajikistan...

The election legislation of Moldova’s autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia was discussed at an OSCE-led roundtable meeting in Comrat on 13 December 2011. Representatives of the Gagauz authorities, the People’s Assembly, parties, civil society, media and the OSCE Mission discussed two sets of legislative proposals...

The OSCE Presence in Albania ensured that 160 Roma children in the town of Fushe-Kruja in central Albania are able to continue their education this school year, by covering the rent, as the school is in private premises, and donated 170 books and three computers...

ANKARA, 15 December 2011- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, discussed today with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu media freedom situation in the country, in particular imprisonment of journalists and Internet restrictions...

TIRANA, 15 December 2011- The Head of the OSCE Presence in Albania Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth today welcomed nomination of a candidate for the position of the People’s Advocate (Ombudsman)...

VIENNA, 15 December 2011 – The 56 OSCE participating States welcomed today the success achieved by the OSCE Office in Zagreb in fulfilling its mandate as well as the progress made by the host country, and decided after 15 years of OSCE field presence in Croatia to close its Office in Zagreb by the end of this year...

From 12 to 13 December, the OSCE Office in Baku held a training course for police and penitentiary officers in the city of Ganja in western Azerbaijan on international standards related to the treatment of suspects and accused in custody...

The Secretary General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, Halil Akinci, addressed the OSCE Permanent Council on 15 December 2011 in Vienna, outlining the activities of his organization in and beyond its region as well as its approach towards relations with the OSCE...

Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, the OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, called on states to tackle the structural factors that increase the vulnerability of people to trafficking such as discrimination, violence, and lack of education and job opportunities, in her annual report to the Permanent Council on 15 December 2011...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 14 November 2011- The OSCE Mission and Kosovo police launched a public information campaign today promoting a new approach to community policing...

GENEVA, 14 December 2011 – Developing synergies through multiple confidence-building measures and reaching out to different communities can help support efforts towards conflict resolution, said Giedrius Čekuolis, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for Protracted Conflicts, following the 18 round of the Geneva Discussions today...

BELGRADE, 14 December 2011 – In recognition of the contribution made by Serbia’s independent agencies and bodies in protecting and advancing human rights, equality, government accountability and citizens’ participation in the country, the heads of three institutions will receive the OSCE Mission to Serbia’s “People of the Year” awards at a ceremony in Belgrade today...

TASHKENT, 14 December 2011- Current practices, investigation techniques and operational experiences in combating human trafficking, along with victims’ rights and their access to justice is the focus of a two-day OSCE workshop that opened today in Tashkent...

The concluding seminar in the “V to V Dialogue” series of expert seminars organized by the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship began in Kahlenberg, near Vienna, on 14 December 2011...

The OSCE Presence in Albania, in co-operation with the Ministry of Education and Science, organized a roundtable discussion on civic education on 13 December 2011...

A rock concert, a Human Rights Film Festival, a public debate and a Human Rights Expo were among the OSCE-supported events held on 9 and 10 December 2011 in Yerevan to mark International Human Rights Day...

ASTANA, 13 December 2011 – An OSCE-supported roundtable discussion on the further adaptation of the national legislation to the requirements of the Aarhus Convention took place today in Astana...

ASTANA, 13 December 2011- The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission for the 15 January early parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan...

BISHKEK, 13 December 2011 – More effective prevention of torture in temporary detention facilities was the focus of a roundtable meeting organized today by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek in co-operation with the Regional Office for Central Asia of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Office of the Ombudsman of Kyrgyz Republic and a human rights non-governmental organization “Kylym Shamy”...

The OSCE Mission and the Police Inspectorate of Kosovo launched a public information campaign on 12 December 2011 promoting the inspectorate’s oversight role and police accountability...

BAKU, 13 December 2011 – Today the OSCE Office in Baku presented an Azerbaijani-language version of the Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel...

Justice Ministry officials and civil society representatives discussed the main principles of democratic law-making at a workshop organized on 10 December 2011 by ODIHR and the OSCE Centre in Bishkek in co-operation with the Justice Ministry of Kyrgyzstan...

ASTANA, 12 December 2011- Representatives from non-governmental organizations, the National Human Rights Commission, academia, international organizations and embassies reviewed the progress achieved during 20 years of Kazakhstan’s independence, and challenges in promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms at an expert conference held today in Astana...

The OSCE, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime the Romanian Foreign Ministry have organized on 13 and 14 December 2011 a workshop in Bucharest on preventing and fighting terrorism financing...

VIENNA, 12 December 2011 – Experts from 20 countries and international organizations working in the OSCE region met today in Vienna to discuss aspects of inland transport security...

VIENNA, 12 December 2011 – The dynamics behind the terrorist radicalization of women and ways to prevent it from happening was the focus of a meeting organized by the OSCE today for experts from academia, civil society, the media and OSCE participating States...

An OSCE Mission-facilitated meeting with representatives of Ferizaj/Uroševac municipality, Nerodime e Epërme/Gornje Nerodimlje village, Kosovo police, EULEX, UNHCR and the Danish Refugee Council on the returns process concluded successfully in Ferizaj/Uroševac on 9 December 2011...

The OSCE Office in Tajikistan together with its field offices in Garm, Khujand, Shartuz and Kulyab and the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, the Executive Office of the President and civil society partners concluded a week of events dedicated to the 63rd anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 9 December 2011...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 10 December 2011 – The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Werner Almhofer, congratulated today the public and their elected representatives on the tenth anniversary of the Assembly of Kosovo...

WARSAW, 9 December 2011 – One year after the OSCE participating States promised to step up their efforts to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, tangible progress remains elusive, said Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, the Director of ODIHR, ahead of international Human Rights Day...

PRISHTINË/PRIŠTINA, 9 December 2011 – Ambassador Werner Almhofer, the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, made the following statement today ahead of International Human Rights Day on 10 December:

The OSCE and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) held an intensive train–the-trainers course for border guard officers on the rights of refugees and asylum seekers as well as reception practices at border entry points from 21 to 30 November 2011...

Cyber security and cybercrime were the focus of a conference organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Armenian Police on 8 December 2011. The event looked at current challenges in Armenia and international experience in fighting cybercrime with the aim of fostering co-operation between the private sector and law enforcement agencies as well as the international community...

The OSCE Mission to Serbia’s Democratization Department, in partnership with Serbia’s Judicial Training Academy, organized the country’s first anti-discrimination and gender equality training course for apprentice judges in Zlatibor, in central Serbia, from 5 to 8 December 2011...

Speaking at the conference “Freedom Online” in the Hague on 9 December 2011, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, emphasized the obligation of governments to ensure freedom of the Internet, including giving citizens unrestricted access to multiple sources of information...

Seeking new perspectives to take forward the fight against corruption in Kyrgyzstan was the focus of a series of events organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek entitled “Evenings of Contrast”, which took place in Bishkek from 5 to 9 December 2011...

A roundtable discussion on collecting and updating migration statistics was held on 9 December 2011 with the support of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. The event aimed to contribute to more targeted migration management in Armenia...

The OSCE Mission to Skopje presented the final results of its Mayors Perception Survey on the work of the police, conducted in co-operation with the Association of Municipalities (ZELS) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on 8 December 2011...

The OSCE Office in Tajikistan and the interior ministries of Tajkistan and Croatia supported an initiative to share expertise and experience on police reform and response to domestic violence with community policing experts, civil society organizations and community crisis centres...

ALMATY, Kazakhstan, 9 December 2011 – State officials from the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Presidential Administration, the Constitutional Council, the Supreme Court and law enforcement agencies met representatives of civil society and academia to discuss a concept paper for Kazakhstan’s new criminal code at an OSCE-supported meeting in Almaty today...

The Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities and the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Local Government Reform held a two-day regional seminar on promoting local government reform, good economic governance and sound financial management at the local level on 7 and 8 December 2011...

DUSHANBE, 9 December 2011 – The findings of an OSCE-supported study on perceptions and attitudes towards corruption in Tajikistan were presented today in Dushanbe in the first of a series of events for government, civil society and international organizations...

VIENNA, 9 December 2011-- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, urged today Russian authorities to protect journalists reporting from the scene of street protests from detention and police harassment...

ALMATY, 9 December 2011 – Some 70 university students gathered to mark International Human Rights Day at an OSCE Centre-supported annual student event that concluded today in Almaty...

VILNIUS, 7 December 2011- The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, highlighted the progress achieved at the Vilnius Ministerial Council and urged the 56 OSCE participating States to build on the decisions taken and address the challenges raised at the meeting, which concluded today...

Implementing United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540 on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction was the focus of a two-day expert meeting that started on 7 December 2011 in Bishkek. The event is co-organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the Ministry of Economical Regulation of Kyrgyzstan with support of the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the UN 1540 Committee...

VILNIUS, 7 December 2011 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, today condemned yesterday’s bomb attacks in Afghanistan in which over 60 people were killed and many injured...