News and press releases

COPENHAGEN, 9 November 2020 – Following reports of protests against the results of the 31 October parliamentary elections and clashes with the police in recent days in Tbilisi, Georgia, OSCE Special Co-ordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE election mission Elona Gjebrea Hoxha (MP, Albania) and Head of the OSCE PA Delegation Pia Kauma (MP, Finland) called on the protesters to refrain from violence and on the authorities to respect the fundamental freedoms of assembly and expression...

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...

The OSCE Moscow Mechanism rapporteur Wolfgang Benedek presented his report to the OSCE Permanent Council on 5 November 2020 concerning alleged human rights violations related to the 9 August presidential elections in Belarus...

The Albanian Human Rights Group (AHRG), in close co-operation with the OSCE Presence in Albania, organized an annual online—on-site 2020 Human Rights and Minorities Academy, from 27 October to 1 November 2020...

The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan supported a series of online discussions as part of the “Newcomer Fest on Human Rights”, which was launched on 27 October 2020. The Fest will see a number of awareness-raising and learning activities held for local community representatives on the importance of human rights and their protection.

COPENHAGEN, 22 October 2020 – Exiled Belarusian opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya visited the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s International Secretariat today and met with OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella. The visit was on the margins of a broader programme of meetings in the Danish capital and served as an opportunity to follow up on a web dialogue hosted by the PA on 23 September 2020 with OSCE PA Bureau members, Tsikhanouskaya, and Belarusian Head of Delegation Andrei Savinykh...

The OSCE Mission to Moldova organized an online public lecture for university students from across Moldova about the human rights challenges that have emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 100 students from universities in Balti, Cahul, Chisinau, Comrat, Taraclia and Tiraspol attended the public lecture...