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News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
OSCE conference throws a spotlight on freedom of religion or belief in the digital age
Publishing date: 9 November 2020
Content type: Press release
What we do: Human rights, Tolerance and non-discrimination
VIENNA/WARSAW, 9 November 2020 – As freedom of religion or belief comes increasingly under pressure, the need to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technologies and at the same time minimize the dangers they pose is becoming ever more important. This topic is the focus of the OSCE’s final human rights conference of the year, beginning today...
Arbitrary capital punishment at odds with the right to life, ODIHR reminds OSCE states
Publishing date: 9 October 2020
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
What we do: Human rights
WARSAW, 9 October 2020 – Ahead of tomorrow’s World Day against the Death Penalty, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) emphasized in its new report that individuals facing the death penalty must have access to fair trial guarantees, the right of pardon or commutation, and equal protection of the law without discrimination...
Progress and challenges over three decades of safeguarding democracy and human rights: OSCE webinar series begins today
Publishing date: 28 September 2020
Content type: Press release
WARSAW/VIENNA, 28 September 2020 – The increasing challenges to the rights and freedoms at the heart of the OSCE commitments to human rights and democracy made 30 years ago, as well as the need for a greater understanding that only a dialogue based on mutual respect will enable us to overcome our common challenges, form the backdrop for a month-long series of webinars beginning today...
OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism invoked to examine alleged human rights violations in Belarus
Publishing date: 18 September 2020
Content type: News
Where we are: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
What we do: Human rights
Seventeen OSCE participating States invoked the OSCE’s so-called Moscow Mechanism on 17 September 2020. Seventeen OSCE participating States invoked the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism on 17 September 2020 to examine alleged human rights violations in Belarus. The Moscow Mechanism, last invoked in 2018 in
COVID-19 brings home the critical importance of democracy in an era of challenges, ODIHR says
Publishing date: 15 September 2020
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
What we do: Democratization, Human rights
WARSAW, 15 September 2020 – As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put democracies to their biggest test in decades, people are increasingly appreciating the vital importance of participating in societies where their voices and concerns are heard, said the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on today’s International Day of Democracy...
OSCE participating States decide the 2020 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting will not take place due to COVID-19
Publishing date: 11 September 2020
Content type: Press release
What we do: Human rights
VIENNA/WARSAW, 11 September 2020 – OSCE participating States today unanimously decided that the OSCE’s annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) will exceptionally not take place in 2020, due to the unique, unprecedented and unpredictable circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The consensus decision, taken by the OSCE Permanent Council, does not establish any precedent for the organization of the HDIM in the future...
The power of digital technologies must be harnessed to counter hatred based on religion or belief, ODIHR says
Publishing date: 21 August 2020
Content type: Press release
Where we are: OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
What we do: Human rights, Rule of law, Tolerance and non-discrimination
WARSAW, 21 August 2020 – On the eve of the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) calls for better use to be made of the advantages that digital technologies can offer, as well as a greater emphasis on countering hatred online...