OSCE Vienna meeting focuses on freedoms of assembly, association and expression

VIENNA, 27 March 2007 - Full and equal participation in pluralist societies is the focus of an OSCE conference starting in Vienna on Thursday.

The two-day conference, addressing issues of freedom of assembly, association and expression, will bring together some 200 human rights activists, state officials, and journalists.

The aim of the meeting is to identify the challenges faced by governments throughout the OSCE region in ensuring that all citizens have an equal opportunity to express their opinions and interests, and to focus on ways to overcome obstacles to the implementation of these rights.

Keynote speakers at the conference, organized by the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), are Ambassador Jiri Grusa, President of International PEN, London and Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, and Josep Borrell, Special Envoy of the OSCE Chairman and former President of the European Parliament.

Journalists are invited to attend the conference, from 15.00 to 18.00 on 29 March, and from 9.00 to 17.30 on 30 March, at the Hofburg Congress Centre in Vienna.

Journalists are also invited to attend the launch of the OSCE ODIHR Guidelines on Peaceful Assembly, which takes place at 12:15 on 30 March at the Hofburg Congress Centre.

For further information, see: Freedom of Assembly, Association and Expression Vienna, 29-30 March

For admittance to the Hofburg Congress Centre, please bring your OSCE badge or a valid press card to the security desk (main entrance from the Heldenplatz). Parking is available for the press during the event in the OSCE-reserved parking area on Heldenplatz. Temporary parking permits must be collected from the security desk.