John McCain speaks in support of OSCE PA resolution on rule of law in Russia. Case of Sergei Magnitsky central to international political debate MONACO, 8 July 2012 – Parliamentarians from across Europe, Central Asia and North America today voted today to call on parliaments to ban visas and freeze assets for human rights abusers connected to the death of Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky. The debate at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly

Left to right: Susanne Bratli (Norway), Vilja Aleknaite Abramikiene (Lithuania) and Asa Lindestam (Sweden). MONACO, 8 July 2012 – At the close of Sunday's meeting of the OSCE PA's General Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Matteo Meccaci (Italy) was re-elected Chair of the Committee, Isabel Santos (Portugal) was elected Vice-Chair and Ann Phelan (Ireland) elected Rapporteur, all by acclamation. In the General

The First Committee continued to debate amendments to Rapporteur Vilija Aleknaite Abramikiene's draft resolution Saturday morning. Five amendments were discussed, two of which were adopted. The resolution passed with one vote against and one abstention. The supplementary item "Helsinki +40" was adopted with one dissenting vote, while the "Impact of Small States in the OSCE" was agreed to unanimously. The resolution on Moldova also received

Charter 97 7 July 2012 OSCE Parliamentary Assembly urges Minsk to release all political prisoners. The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on Saturday adopted a resolution calling on the Belarusian government to immediately and unconditionally release and exonerate all political prisoners. The resolution contains a list of individuals whom the Assembly views as political prisoners. The list features 13 names, including Ihar Alinevich, Mikalay

MONACO, 6 July 2012 – How to ensure that the democratic promise of the Arab Spring is fully realized was the overriding question at the OSCE PA's Mediterranean Forum on Friday. Chaired by Assembly Vice-President and Head of the Monegasque Delegation Jean-Charles Gardetto, the forum included participation from Libyan delegates Mohamed Abdulaziz, Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation of Libya, and Khaled Ghellali,

Speaker Robillon addresses the opening plenary of the 21st Annual Session. MONACO, 5 July 2012 ( Francais ) – More than 270 parliamentarians from more than 50 countries today opened the 21st Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary with an agenda packed with measures to address human rights and security challenges across Europe, Central Asia and North America. "The Principality of Monaco is very proud to welcome the Annual Session of the OSCE