Ilkka Kanerva (centre) addresses journalists in Moscow, 19 January 2017. MOSCOW, 19 January 2017 – Representatives of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) are in Moscow from 18 to 20 January 2017 to present the final report of the ODIHR election observation mission for the 18 September 2016 parliamentary elections in the Russian Federation. The report’s findings and

COPENHAGEN, 18 January 2017 – Responding today to a proposed plan by the Hungarian government to hold all asylum seekers in detention centres for the entire duration of their application process on national security grounds, Spanish parliamentarian and Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee Ignacio Sanchez Amor called on Hungary to respect the rights of asylum seekers on its territory. “This proposal could pose a

Christine Muttonen (left) at the opening of the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship, Vienna, 12 January 2017 VIENNA, 13 January 2017 – The President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Austrian parliamentarian Christine Muttonen, today called for the immediate agreement on the extension of mandates of OSCE field operations, some of which are currently being held up by representatives of OSCE countries. “Field missions have long been the crown jewel of

Ignacio Sanchez Amor (Spain), Chair of the OSCE PA's human rights committee COPENHAGEN, 10 January 2017 – On the eve of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility’s 15th anniversary, Spanish parliamentarian Ignacio Sanchez Amor, Chair of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee, reiterated longstanding concerns over the prison and the practice of indefinite detention. Regretting that President Barack Obama was unable to follow

COPENHAGEN, 1 January 2017 – In response to the New Year’s Eve massacre at a nightclub in Istanbul, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Christine Muttonen (MP, Austria) issued the following statement: “I condemn in the strongest terms last night’s horrific massacre in Istanbul, which killed at least 39 people, and offer my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. It is tragic that we must once again confront this terror,