ODIHR's Panel of Experts on Freedom of Assembly holds annual meeting in Warsaw

ODIHR's Panel of Experts on Freedom of Assembly, an advisory body made up of 10 members from throughout the OSCE region, held its sixth annual meeting in Warsaw on 6-7 June.

The meeting covered a range of issues, including assemblies during elections, policing of assemblies, and assemblies during states of emergency, among others, in light of the ever-changing context in which the freedom of assembly is exercised and against the backdrop of the Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, published by ODIHR and the Council of Europes Venice Commission in 2010.

One of the Panel's main functions is to provide ODIHR with support in assisting participating States in reforming legislation in this sphere. Some recent examples include legislation in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Serbia.

The Panel's members are Nina Belayaeva (Russian Federation), Thomas Bull (Sweden), David Goldberger (USA), Michael Hamilton (UK), Neil Jarman (UK), Muatar Khaidarova (Tajikistan), Serghei Ostaf (Moldova), Vardan Poghosyan (Armenia), Alexander Vashkevich (Belarus). Yevgeniy Zhovtis (Kazakhstan) is serving a prison sentence and was for this reason unable to attend the meeting, but remains an active member of the Panel.