OSCE participating States should do more to protect and facilitate peaceful assemblies, concludes ODIHR monitoring report

OSCE participating States should protect and facilitate peaceful assemblies, and restrictions should be proportionate and only imposed when necessary, says a report released by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Vienna on 9 November 2012.

The 100-page report is the result of OSCE/ODIHR’s work from May 2011 to June 2012 in observing 27 assemblies, demonstrations and counter-demonstrations, in Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.

“In the OSCE area, assemblies are increasingly being used to convey messages and voice public concerns both about issues relevant to the general public and about those specific to certain, often marginalized, groups,” said Snježana Bokulić, the Head of ODIHR’s Human Rights Department. “ODIHR observers reported that these activities were often marred by instances of excessive use of force or faced undue restrictions, often as a result of inadequate laws and regulations.”

The report identifies challenges, highlights good practices and provides recommendations on how commitments relating to freedom of peaceful assembly can be better implemented in all OSCE participating States.

Bokulić said that, in line with its mandate, ODIHR is ready to work with participating States in addressing the identified shortcomings.

The report was presented on the margins of the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Freedom of Assembly and Association, and is available in English and Russian.