News and press releases

VALLETTA/VIENNA/WARSAW, 30 July 2024 – Marking World Day against Trafficking in Persons, OSCE Chair-in-Office, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs and Trade of Malta Ian Borg, OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Matteo Mecacci and OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings Kari Johnstone underscored the need to strengthen collaborative efforts to identify victims of human trafficking and prevent exploitation of the most vulnerable, particularly children.

WARSAW, 22 July 2024 – In recent months, the intensified large-scale attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian cities have resulted in an increasing number of civilian casualties and severe damage to civilian infrastructure, while evidence is growing of widespread and systematic torture of detained civilians and prisoners of war in Russian-controlled areas, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in its latest report on violations of international law following Russia’s military attack in Ukraine.

WARSAW/VIENNA, 9 July 2024 – In a new legal analysis of Uzbekistan's draft information code, Matteo Mecacci, the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Teresa Ribeiro, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM), noted that while the code contains positive elements, it also includes provisions that need improvement to meet international standards and OSCE commitments on freedom of expression and media freedom.

WARSAW, 3 July 2024 – This week’s verdicts by a Minsk court sentencing 20 Belarusian experts and analysts in absentia to over a decade in prison for peaceful activities in support of the political opposition are a clear violation of free speech and the right to a fair trial, and should be revoked, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said today.

ULAANBAATAR, 29 June 2024 – Yesterday’s parliamentary elections in Mongolia were well run and candidates could campaign freely overall, but competitiveness was negatively affected by the lack of a level playing field and a series of pay rises and social benefit increases in the run-up to the elections gave an unjust advantage to the ruling party, international observers said in a statement today.

VIENNA, 24 June 2024 – Despite progress made in some areas, levels of intolerance and discrimination remain high and pervasive in many parts of the OSCE region with a particularly negative impact on women and girls, corroding democracy and jeopardising our common security, and undermining gender equality, OSCE leaders said as a two-day meetingon tolerance and non-discrimination and gender equality started today.

WARSAW, 20 June 2024 – As the number of forcibly displaced people in the OSCE area reaches a record high, the proliferation of new border technologies is likely to have a profound impact on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of refugees across the region, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said on the occasion of World Refugee Day.