OSCE PA President Petros Efthymiou participates in memorial ceremony at the Hall of Rememrance at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. 13 February 2012. JERUSALEM, 13 February 2012 – OSCE PA President Petros Efthymiou today made the following statement at a ceremony at the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem: "The Holocaust was an unprecedented and incomparable crime against humanity. As we remember the lives lost and communities destroyed, we call on OSCE

COPENHAGEN, 10 February 2012 – João Soares, OSCE PA President Emeritus and Special Representative for South Caucasus today expressed concern regarding reports of a law enforcement raid on the Tskinvali headquarters of Alla Dzhioyeva, former education minister and former opposition candidate, which left Dzhioyeva hospitalized with injuries. "I call on the relevant authorities in the region of South Ossetia to respect the rule of law and human

COPENHAGEN, 9 February 2012 – In a U.S. Helsinki Commission hearing yesterday featuring the OSCE Chair-in-Office, Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore, the Head of the OSCE PA's U.S. Delegation Chris Smith welcomed the Irish Chairmanship's security agenda and highlighted the work of the Parliamentary Assembly on child safety. Pointing to a resolution adopted at the Belgrade Annual Session last year, Smith said that international child

COPENHAGEN, 1 February 2012 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly human rights committee chair Matteo Mecacci (Italy) today welcomed the news that Kazakhstani authorities are set to release imprisoned human rights defender Yvgeny Zhovtis under a general amnesty later this month. "I hope Mr. Zhovtis' release from prison will be the beginning of a new chapter in developing fundamental freedoms and human rights in Kazakhstan," said Mecacci, chair of the

STOCKHOLM, 31 January 2012 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice President Walburga Habsburg Douglas (Sweden) is co-hosting a delegation of parliamentarians this week from the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic on a study visit to Sweden. The visiting delegation includes representatives of all five political parties in the Kyrgyzstani Parliament. The delegation will meet with Swedish parliamentarians, including colleagues from the committees on

COPENHAGEN, 26 January 2012 – Matteo Mecacci, Chair of the OSCE PA human rights committee today called for respect of human rights and easing of conditions in Kyrgyzstan prisons after the government reported 80 per cent of the country's prisoners are on a hunger strike. More than 400 detainees in four correctional facilities in Kyrgyzstan are reported to have sewn their mouths shut as part of a protest demanding improved prison conditions. The