OSCE media freedom representative expresses concern about Lithuanian public information law, welcomes authorities' co-operation on improving it

VIENNA, 4 September 2009 - Miklos Haraszti, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, expressed concern today that a recently amended law that aims to protect minors is sovague that it will restrict legitimate media content, but he also welcomed the Lithuanian authorities' readiness to co-operate with the OSCE in improving the law."The law sets numerous limits on freedom of expression generally, not only on children's programmes," Haraszti wrote in a letter to Arunas Valinskas, Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament, and to Vygaudas Usackas, Minister of Foreign Affairs. "It introduces dubious and vague media content regulations that can be arbitrarily applied against media."Parliament, the Seimas, adopted the amendments to the Law on the Protection of Minors against Detrimental Effect of Public Information on 14 July.

New initiatives put forward in the Seimas aim to improve the law before it enters into force on 1 March 2010.The July rules outlaw public speech "agitating for homosexual, bisexual and polygamous relations" as well as "portrayal of physical or psychological violence", "promoting bad eating, sanitary and physical passivity habits" and "portraying mockery of a person"."Some of these norms are discriminatory, and all of them hamper the production of artistic or documentary content," Haraszti said. "But their main problem is a vagueness that makes their application unavoidably arbitrary, selective and politicized."Haraszti welcomed the Lithuanian authorities' readiness to co-operate with his office on the reform of the new law before it comes into force.

For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please visit: http://www.osce.org/item/39387.html

OSCE launches video contest on civil society to mark anniversary of fall of Berlin Wall and Iron Curtain

VIENNA, 24 August 2009 - The OSCE launched a video contest today to highlight civil society initiatives in the OSCE area to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain. Initiated and financed by the Permanent Mission of Germany to the OSCE, with the support of the Greek OSCE Chairmanship, the contest aims to raise awareness about the importance of civic participation and highlight positive examples of civil society in action.The winners will get a trip to Vienna to attend high-profile events commemorating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain on 5 and 6 November.

The winning short videos will be shown at a special exhibition on 5 November and showcased on the OSCE's YouTube channel and website.

The video contest - "Taking part - civil society initiatives in the OSCE area" - is open to all residents of the 56 OSCE participating States between the ages of 18 and 30. Students, journalists and civil society members are particularly encouraged to enter. The deadline for entries is 2 October.

Contest details can be found on the OSCE website: http://www.osce.org/item/39260.html.

Statement by OSCE Minorities Commissioner on Slovakia's State Language Act

THE HAGUE, 03 September 2009 - The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM), Knut Vollebaek, released the following statement today:

"Over the past two months I have had numerous discussions with the Slovak and Hungarian Governments and Parliaments as well as representatives of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia in connection with the promulgation of amendments to Slovakia's State Language Act. All parties have sought my good offices in order to help find an amenable solution to outstanding issues surrounding the promulgation and implementation of the Law. In my talks I emphasized that it is important that an appropriate balance is ensured between strengthening the state language on the one hand, and protecting the linguistic rights of persons belonging to national minorities on the other. I suggested specific measures on how this balance can be enhanced and recommended a number of steps to be taken in order to implement the law in an appropriate and proportionate way. It is essential that the implementation of the Act does not negatively affect the rights of persons belonging to national minorities in Slovakia.

I also encouraged the Slovak and Hungarian Governments to engage in constructive dialogue on outstanding issues in the spirit of friendly and good-neighbourly relations and to make full use of existing bilateral mechanisms. It is also imperative that the next steps are taken in close co-operation with national minority representatives in Slovakia.In this context, all sides have welcomed my participation in the upcoming meeting of the Slovak-Hungarian Joint Commission on Issues of National Minorities and have invited me to provide my assistance in ensuring that the next steps will take account of the rights and legitimate needs of all stakeholders. This includes my assistance with the drafting of the implementing guidelines. I intend to remain engaged with this matter until it is resolved in a way that all sides accept. I will visit Budapest and Bratislava in mid-September to continue assisting Hungary and Slovakia in resolving their differences."

For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please visit: http://www.osce.org/item/39377.html

OSCE minorities commissioner discusses amendments to Slovakia's language law

THE HAGUE, 22 July, OSCE

The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, Knut Vollebaek, received delegations from Slovakia (on 21 July) and Hungary (on 22 July) to discuss the amendments to the "Law on the State Language of the Slovak Republic".Vollebaek heard the views of the two sides and in confidence shared his opinion and recommendations on the proposed amendments with the two delegations.He said he would continue to remain engaged in the matter with a view to providing a possible venue for the two sides to address matters of mutual concern in a way that promotes both interests of minority communities and enhances friendly relations between the two countries.

The High Commissioner on National Minorities, created in 1992, is a unique OSCE institution with a mandate to identify and seek early resolution of ethnic tensions that might endanger peace, stability or friendly relations between OSCE participating States.

For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please visit: http://www.osce.org/item/38979.html

OSCE Kosovo Mission helps sustain Bosnian-language education

An OSCE report.

Economic crisis sharpens need for effective migration management, say OSCE Forum participants

OSCE Press Release
May 18

Policymakers and high-level experts are in Athens to discuss effective labour migration management at the OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum which started today against the backdrop of the global economic and financial crisis.

In her keynote address, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, urged OSCE states to further increase co-operation on migration issues and develop comprehensive and effective policy frameworks.

"We have all witnessed the increasing trends of migration as an effect of globalization. The recent developments of the financial and economic crisis complicate the problem and its multifaceted character calls for a more focused and co-ordinated approach as a response of the international community," she said.

"Migration issues are being discussed nationally and regionally, as well as at the international level, and we should start from the understanding that all actors eventually face common challenges and therefore we should all explore, together, possibilities for policy responses."

The three-day meeting will focus on the development impact of migration and gender-sensitive approaches in migration related policy making. The Forum will also review OSCE commitments in the economic and environmental dimension focusing on migration, and identify possible follow-up OSCE activities in that field.

OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut emphasized the need to safeguard the rights of migrants in the face of the economic crisis.

"In troubled times, it is vital that we communicate clearly about the positive contribution that migrants make to our societies and also that we counter firmly any rise of xenophobia or scapegoating of migrant workers. Violations of human rights and threats to social cohesion cannot be accepted or ignored. These are our starting points," he said.

Goran Svilanovic, the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, said it was important to recognize the benefits of migration to both countries of origin and destination.

"Migratory flows do have significant positive effects on national economies. Some of the wealthiest countries in the world have the highest proportion of immigrant workers, who, in fact do not substitute national workforce, but complement it. On the other hand, origin countries can benefit from remittances and acquired skills and knowledge of their returning migrants," he said.

According to the International Labour Office, regional migrant remittances in the OSCE area amounted to some 50 billion dollars in 2007.

The Athens meeting concludes the 17th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum and builds on the recommendations and findings of two preparatory conferences and the first part of the Forum, which took place in Vienna in January.

For PDF attachments or links to sources of further information, please visit: http://www.osce.org/item/37691.html

School magazine in multi-ethnic Montenegro has lessons for adults too

Mia Lausevic

OSCE Website

April 9

The bell rings at the "Marshal Tito" elementary school in Ulcinj on Montenegro's southern coast, and the classroom doors burst open, letting out a torrent of children, laughing and running. A group of them stand in front of the classroom I have come to visit, waiting for their teachers to arrive. We enter the classroom, everybody takes their seats and now I can get a better look at them.

About 30 pupils, aged 7-15, sit in front of me. Ulcinj is known as a place where different cultures - Montenegrins, Albanians, Serbs, Roma, Egyptians and Ashkali - and different faiths - Muslims, Catholics and Orthodox - merge, and that is strongly reflected in this class.

But although the pupils come from very different backgrounds, they have one thing in common: they are all members of the school's journalism club, publishing the best of their work in their own magazine Djecja Planeta (Children's Planet).

The club has been run since September 2008 by two Egyptian journalists, Muhamed Ukovic and Biljana Alkovic, who have been trained under an OSCE Mission to Montenegro project to develop Roma, Egyptian and Ashkali leadership potential.

No taboos

Biljana, a student of political science, has nothing but praise for the children she works with. "There are no taboos in our discussions," she says. "We encourage the children to speak freely of the problems they face. We conduct interviews and opinion polls, trying to get answers to questions such as observance of children's rights and violence in schools, and we publish the results in the magazine."

The young journalists meet on Mondays after school. They work in groups with their teachers, discussing various topics - ethics, tolerance, discrimination, drug abuse and other problems - and preparing the material for the next issue of Children's Planet.

"When I grow up, I would like to be a journalist. I would work hard on observance of human rights and I would criticize all those who breach them," wrote Bahrija Begzic, a 12-year-old girl from the sixth grade in an article for the magazine.

Striving for truth

Her friend Zlatica Nakic, also 12, added: "Striving for truth is the purpose of journalism. A journalist has to behave well and be friendly, because journalists are the eyes and the ears of common citizens. This profession also requires impartiality and tolerance, which are necessary for good communication and good relations."

And in an article on friendship, Zlatica's twin sister Tamara wrote: "My best friend is Mersiha. My secret is her secret, my pain is her pain too, she's happy when I'm happy and we share everything. We have different religions, but that only helps us learn about different cultures and understand that different cultures and tradition should bind us, not divide us. Friendship knows no boundaries, nations or skin colour."

The magazine has a print run of 1,500 copies and is distributed free to all pupils at the school. "All the children are excited about it - not just those who work on it, but those who read it too. We started working in September 2008 with some 12 pupils, and now the journalism club has more than 30 members," Biljana says with pride.

Common goal

"This initiative has proved very valuable, as children from different cultures and religions are very motivated to work together in groups for a common goal - the magazine," says Raffaella Zoratti, Democratization Officer in the OSCE Mission and manager of the project.

"The idea was to create strong new friendships. To my surprise and my great pleasure, from the very beginning these children worked together as one, without any prejudice, with their hearts and minds open. It seems to me that we have plenty to learn from them."

As I leave the school, I have the feeling that these children have given us a difficult and very important task. They have created a Children's Planet free from all discrimination, intolerance and injustice - can we adults do the same?

OSCE's human rights office, minority commissioner express concern over violence targeting Roma

WARSAW/THE HAGUE, 7 April 2009 - Ahead of tomorrow's (April 8th) International Roma Day, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) expressed concern over the continuing discriminatory treatment and exclusion of Roma and the recent escalation in hate-motivated incidents and racist rhetoric reported in a number of European countries.

In a joint statement with the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights and the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights issued today, the two OSCE institutions call for concerted action from responsible authorities to eradicate all forms of discrimination and violence against Roma.

"In times of economic crisis, communities such as the Roma, along with migrants and other vulnerable groups, tend to become easy scapegoats for extremist movements and populist politicians," said the statement.

"Such 'scapegoating' has already resulted in damaging inter-ethnic relations and an increase in the number of violent hate crimes in some countries."

The joint statement calls on political leaders to "unequivocally and publicly condemn all forms of violence targeting the Roma". It also urges politicians and other public figures to carefully consider their statements, and journalists to apply ethical reporting rules, in order to avoid inciting ethnic tensions.

OSCE High Commissioner brings police and minorities together in Crimea

Dmitri Alechkevitch and Oleg Smirnov

February 18

OSCE

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, thousands of Crimean Tatars came back to their homeland in Ukraine after decades in exile following their 1944 deportation by Stalin. Estimates of the numbers deported range from 180,000 to 200,000.

The Ukrainian State is widely and rightly credited for facilitating the repatriation of the Crimean Tatars, who now number around 250,000 according to the 2001 census.

However, although the return of the Crimean Tatars went smoothly, their reintegration into Crimean society has been problematic. Lack of employment opportunities, unresolved land issues and under-representation in the public sector have become part of everyday life for them.

Desperate people do desperate things. On several occasions, the Crimean Tatars have blocked roads, organized tent camp protests and staged demonstrations, straining relations with the police.

Need for greater confidence

Knut Vollebaek, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM), believes there is an urgent need for confidence-building between the Crimean police and minorities.

"The police and the ethnic communities have much to gain from working closely together. One has to bear in mind the perils of police and minorities only seeing one another through the protective visors of riot police helmets," he says.

Easier said than done, sceptics would say. There are, however, good examples of police-minority partnership that have emerged despite tough circumstances. Highlighting them and promoting co-operation between the police and minorities was the aim of a conference co-organized by the HCNM and the Ukrainian Interior Ministry in late 2008.

But when the regional police management and minority communities gathered at the Crimean police headquarters in Simferopil on 6 November for the conference, passions were running very high.

On the night before the meeting, Nadir Berinkulov, a 21-year old Crimean Tatar from the village of Solontsovo, was shot by a police officer and later died in hospital. The circumstances of his death are currently being investigated.

Heated debate

The conference's morning session gave people an opportunity to air their feelings. Needless to say, the shooting was hotly debated.

"It may sound cynical but we are not surprised at the 6 November incident," commented Emine Avameliva, a lawyer from the Mejlis, a Crimean Tatar NGO. "Crimean Tatars have grown used to abusive policing."

After the heated opening, the roundtable focused on many aspects of police-minority interaction. The police brought up the lack of minority co-operation in solving crimes. Crimean Tatars criticized the absence of any police response to the hate propaganda against them in the mass media and among young people. Other minority communities decried the lack of police outreach and information sharing.

The representation of minorities in the police figured prominently.

"Distorted mirror"

"The High Commissioner has recommended that the police service must mirror the demographics of the population," said Refat Chubarov, one of the Mejlis leaders.

"In Crimea, the mirror is distorted," Chubarov noted, referring to the fact the Crimean Tatars account for 12.1 per cent of the total population of Crimea, but only 4.0 per cent of police personnel.

The HCNM's experts from the UK and Russia showed convincingly how the police and minorities can benefit from working together, and how an emphasis on training, recruitment and communication can turn them into partners.

Follow-up needed

"While the very fact that police-minority dialogue is taking place is encouraging, it has to be followed up," High Commissioner Vollebaek says. "Concrete projects in Crimea, such as police training in management of inter-ethnic relations, will boost confidence and trust."

The High Commissioner has found like-minded partners in the Ukrainian Interior Ministry. Two advisers to the Minister, Yurii Lutsenko, and senior police management from Crimea took part in the Simferopil event, listening patiently and engaging constructively.

"We have been given food for thought," says Maryna Novikova, one of the Minister's advisers. "Now it is time to turn thoughts into action."

OSCE: Ethnic segregation in education must be prevented

SKOPJE, 30 January 2009 - The OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM), Knut Vollebaek, today warned the authorities in Skopje about the negative consequences that increasingly segregated education will have on the society.

"Creeping separation is, unfortunately, becoming a reality in the country. This is a worrisome trend and is a setback for your society. Segregation undermines the very basis on which your children learn to build a shared society," Vollebaek said during his visit to the country.

In his talks with the President, the Prime Minister and other high officials, as well as representatives of national minorities, Vollebaek focussed on the need for integrated education, the situation of the country's smaller ethnic communities and the implementation of minority-related legislation and court decisions.

"Your country has made headway in the past few years in some key areas of education, including mother-tongue tuition, the depoliticization of education and increased parental involvement in local municipalities. This progress should not be undercut by increased ethnic separation," he told the authorities..

The authorities, including the Prime Minister and the Education Minister, agreed to work closely with the HCNM to ensure that such separation be stopped and reversed.

Vollebaek also visited the municipalities of Kicevo and Tetovo as well as Struga where problematic inter-ethnic relations among students require particular attention. In addition, he discussed integrated education in a speech to students at the South East European University in Tetovo, as well as with a group of parliamentarians in Skopje.

OSCE Minorities Commissioner seeks stable solution to plight of Meskhetians

Written by Nino Bolkvadze and Dmitri Alechkevitch, OSCE, November 2008

The Meskhetians, a Turkic-speaking ethnic group, experienced some of the worst atrocities at the hands of the Soviet government. In 1944, Joseph Stalin decided to deport them from Georgia because of their alleged collaboration with the Nazis. Sadly, after 64 years in exile, the Meskhetian issue is still on the international agenda.

Mamuka Khutsishvili, 44, and Osman Mehriev-Kuradze, 89, seem to have little in common. Mamuka, an engineer by profession, lives in Akhaltsikhe, the municipal town of south-western Georgia's Samtskhe-Javakheti region, where he runs a small business. Osman is a villager from Abastumani; he is now too old for cultivating vegetables, something he has done all his life.

What they do share is their ethnic origin. Both are Meskhetians.

Horrors of deportation

Osman was 25 when his family was driven out of their home. "It happened on 15 November 1944. The soldiers broke into our house at 3:00 am and ordered us to follow them, hardly giving us any time even to dress. We were all thrown into cattle trucks and traveled for 40 days without any food or warm clothes. I remember people ate grass for survival. Many died of hunger and infectious diseases. I saw soldiers throwing corpses from carriages. Ever since, I cannot recover from the nightmare of those days," Osman says as his eyes fill with tears.

Unlike other ethnic groups brutally expelled by the Stalinist regime, the Meskhetians were never allowed to return to their native land. In the final days of the Soviet Union many had to flee again, as inter-ethnic clashes and pogroms drove them out of their homes in parts of Central Asia.

The long road home

Large numbers of Meskhetians have settled in Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and other countries. Some, like Mamuka and Osman, have returned to their homeland. For thousands of Meskhetians, though, it remains a dream.

Mamuka lived in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and had a well-paid job but homesickness made him come back.

"When I got married and my children were born, I decided to return to my homeland while the kids were still very little. I myself was raised without any national history, heroes or values. I did not want my children to be deprived of them too."

The situation of the Meskhetians has long been the focus of the international community's attention. On joining the Council of Europe in 1999, Georgia undertook a commitment to facilitate the return of those Meskhetians who had been deported and their descendants. In parallel, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) and other international bodies have been working with third countries in order to make sure that the Meskhetians do not remain stateless.

"Not a tennis ball"

The position of the HCNM has always been steadfast: those Meskhetians who wish to return to Georgia should be able to do so at the earliest opportunity, on a voluntary basis and in conditions of dignity and security.

"I cannot emphasize the word 'voluntary' enough. Meskhetians resident in Russia, Azerbaijan and other countries have to be given the option of integration and naturalization in their host state," says the High Commissioner, Ambassador Knut Vollebaek.

"These people are not a tennis ball that countries can hit back and forth across a net of international borders. The plight of Meskhetians should finally end."

Repatriation legislation in place

In 2007, Georgia put in place an appropriate legal framework to facilitate the return of the Meskhetians. The law sets out the conditions that prospective returnees have to meet in order to be repatriated.

However, the legal text is "complicated and vague," says Temur Lomsadze, Director of International Foundation for the Support of Repatriation.

"An ordinary person will find it hard to make sense of its provisions. Besides, Meskhetians have difficulties in filling out applications in Georgian or English, as required by the law. All those willing to return have to submit documents by January 2009, so they are short of time as well. Despite all this, I think it is anyway a step forward that the Law on Repatriation has been adopted."

The International Foundation for the Support of Repatriation, assisted by the HCNM, has published a guide that explains in accessible language the procedures that the Law sets out. The 200-page document introduces the Meskhetians to Georgia, a country that differs dramatically from the place they were forced to abandon in 1944.

About 20,000 copies of the guide will be distributed by the international Meskhetian non-governmental organization Vatan and Georgian consulates to Meskhetians in Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. It should help those willing to return to consider all the pros and cons.

The August war in Georgia has affected the plans of many prospective returnees. The HCNM has therefore proposed to the government to extend the January 2009 deadline.

Return to where?

Like elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, the question of return is complicated by the legacy of the Stalinist deportations. Most Meskhetians used to live in Samtskhe-Javakheti, a region of Georgia which is now home to an ethnic Armenian majority and was long neglected by successive central governments in the 1990s.

Many of those Meskhetians who wish to move to Georgia want to relocate to precisely the birthplace of their ancestors, Samtskhe-Javakheti. Economic hardship is no obstacle to their plans. Osman and his sons, for example, took out a loan to buy a house in their native village, Abastumani.

"This is the place where I was born and my ancestors are buried. Many other Meskhetians also wish to come here, to our original habitat. Justice will be restored once everyone is given an opportunity to return to Samtskhe-Javakheti," says Osman Kuradze.

Some, however, fear that the tangible improvement that Samtskhe-Javakheti has witnessed since 2003 could be put at risk by the unmanaged and massive return of the Meskhetians to the region.

High Commissioner Vollebaek believes the repatriation has to be carefully thought through and supported by international assistance.

"Only such an approach will ensure that inter-ethnic relations in Georgia are reinforced rather than undermined."