News and press releases

SARAJEVO, 24 August 2022 – The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) today opened an election observation mission for the 2 October general elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, following an official invitation from the national authorities and a needs assessment mission conducted in June this year.

WARSAW, 22 August 2022 — Establishing, maintaining, and accessing places and objects of worship or contemplation are crucial to the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, which applies during conflict and in times of peace, said the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion.

The 3 April 2022 presidential and early parliamentary elections in Serbia presented diverse political options, but a number of shortcomings resulted in an uneven playing field favouring the incumbents. Recent legislative amendments adopted after extensive discussions among the ruling parties and

WARSAW, 2 August 2022 – Governments need to go beyond their responsibility to remember the Roma and Sinti genocide of 1944 to ensure that school curricula and other educational initiatives engage with young people to discuss the potentially dangerous consequences of racist ideologies, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said on today’s Roma Genocide Remembrance Day.

The parliamentary elections and referendum in Hungary were well run, but marred by the absence of a level playing field. While contestants were largely able to campaign freely, there was a pervasive overlap between ruling coalition and government messaging and activities. Candidate registration was inclusive, offering voters distinct alternatives, but biased news coverage limited voters’ opportunity to make an informed choice....

Thirty-eight OSCE participating States invoked the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism on 28 July 2022 in order “to establish a mission of experts to look into and report on the ongoing concerns […] identified as particularly serious threats to the fulfilment of the provisions of the OSCE human dimension by the Russian Federation, to assess Russia’s legal and administrative practice in light of its OSCE commitments, to establish the facts, and to provide recommendations and advice”.

VIENNA/WARSAW, 18 July 2022 – Protecting the human rights of trafficking victims must be placed at the heart of all responses to this global crime that particularly targets women and girls, who are even more at risk in situations of armed conflict, OSCE leaders said at the opening of a two-day conference today.