Six countries urge OSCE to strengthen protections for civil society

Six countries have called on the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to strengthen protections for civil society members who face reprisals for engaging with its work.

In a joint statement delivered in Vienna on 12 November, Canada, Denmark, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK said threats against people who take part in OSCE events and platforms were a particular concern. The statement asked what the organisation, its institutions and participating states would do to prevent, monitor and respond to reprisals.

The countries spoke as members of the Democracy Defender Initiative, which they said established the Democracy Defender Award ten years ago. They described recipients as people who document war crimes, defend political prisoners, observe elections, support independent journalism and hold governments to account, often at significant personal risk.

The statement said civil society groups had reported growing pressure, including exile, cross-border persecution, restrictions linked to foreign funding, surveillance and digital threats. It also cited calls made by civil society representatives in Warsaw for the OSCE to learn from the UN’s system for tracking and publicly reporting reprisals against human rights defenders.

The six countries welcomed a commitment to strengthen the OSCE’s approach, but did not set out a timetable or specific measures in the statement.