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

COPENHAGEN, 20 January 2012 – The British government should report more frequently to Parliament on its activities within the OSCE, and the OSCE in Vienna should co-operate more fully with the Parliamentary Assembly, members of the British House of Lords said this week. Lord Peter Bowness (United Kingdom) and other British parliamentarians made the comments during an hour-long debate about the 56-country OSCE. "If Her Majesty's government is

Washington Post 16 January 2012 Weekend elections have determined that Kazakhstan's parliament is no longer a one-party chamber, but international observers say the vote failed to meet democratic standards. Authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbayev had called the snap election in November, so Kazakhstan could proceed further along the path of democracy, he said. According to preliminary results announced Monday, Nazarbayev's Nur Otan party