News and press releases
News and press releases from the OSCE's global activities.
Ensuring the rights of the individual in focus at OSCE-supported conference in Astana
Publishing date: 12 May 2016
ASTANA, 12 May 2016 – Current trends and challenges in ensuring the rights of the individual in modern society are the main topics of an OSCE-supported international conference in the framework of annual ”Shaikenov Readings”, which began today in Astana...
OSCE/ODIHR and Spain host panel discussion on freedom of religion or belief, tolerance and inter-religious dialogue
Publishing date: 10 May 2016
Challenges and opportunities that an increasing diversity of religions and beliefs pose for public institutions, religious communities, and societies across the OSCE region were the focus of an event, hosted by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Permanent Mission of Spain to the OSCE on 10 May 2016, in Vienna.
OSCE/ODIHR Director calls on Belarus to stop executions, introduce immediate moratorium on death penalty
Publishing date: 9 May 2016
WARSAW, 9 May 2016 – Reacting to the reported execution in Belarus of Syarhey Iwanow and a 6 May Supreme Court ruling upholding the death sentence against Sergei Khmelevsky, Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today again called on Belarus to introduce an immediate moratorium on executions, as a step towards complete abolition of the death penalty...
OSCE parliamentarians travelling to Calais to examine conditions for refugees and migrants, provide policy recommendations
Publishing date: 9 May 2016
COPENHAGEN, 9 May 2016 – Members of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s newly formed Ad Hoc Committee on Migration will be in Calais, France, this week to see the conditions for refugees and migrants seeking shelter in encampments there. The visit will serve as a fact-finding mission to enable the parliamentarians to gain a first-hand impression of conditions and to develop policy recommendations to improve the collective response to the refugee and migrant crisis...
OSCE launches series of training seminars on National Preventive Mechanism in Kazakhstan
Publishing date: 6 May 2016
A two-day OSCE-supported training seminar for members of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) for Preventing Torture and Ill-treatment on practical aspects of NPM implementation began in Pavlodar, Kazakhstan on 6 May 2016...
OSCE Mission to Moldova holds first Civil Society Club meeting in 2016
Publishing date: 29 April 2016
The OSCE Mission to Moldova held the first in a series of Civil Society Club meetings on 28 April 2016 aimed at developing the practical skills of NGOs on the left bank of the Dniester/Nistru River. The event was held in Tiraspol and brought together staff members from 21 NGOs specializing in health, ecology and children’s rights, among other issues...
OSCE trains newly recruited prison staff in Kyrgyzstan
Publishing date: 29 April 2016
JALAL-ABAD, Kyrgyzstan, 29 April 2016 – Some 46 newly recruited prison staff today concluded a two-week capacity-building training course organized by the OSCE Centre in Bishkek and the Kyrgyz State Service on Execution of Punishment held from 18 to 29 April 2016...