The Justice and Human Rights Foundation is proud to announce its participation in the 2025 Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Human Dimension Conference, organized by the OSCE Chairpersonship-in-Office in cooperation with the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). The conference, held in Warsaw from 6 to 17 October 2025, brought together a record number of nearly 2,000 participants, including representatives from governments, international organizations, civil society, academia, and the media from across the OSCE region. This year’s event featured 10 plenary sessions and over 120 side events, reflecting the OSCE’s inclusive approach to promoting democracy, the rule of law, and human rights.
As the OSCE marked the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, the foundational 1975 agreement that established the principles of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, and respect for human rights as the cornerstone of European security, this year’s conference underscored the continuing importance of those commitments. The Helsinki principles—mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and the indivisibility of security and human rights—were reaffirmed by OSCE leaders as vital to maintaining stability and trust across the region.
The Foundation also welcomed the renewed call by OSCE leaders for all participating States to return to the spirit of Helsinki 1975, emphasizing that genuine security depends on democratic accountability and the protection of individual freedoms. The conference served as a timely reminder that the human dimension remains central to the OSCE’s mission, and that civil society continues to play a crucial role in defending those universal values.
Three members of our Foundation attended this important forum to engage in discussions on major human rights challenges and to highlight ongoing violations in Turkey. Our Foundation contributed substantively to the conference by preparing and distributing a six-page brochure titled “Women & Children in Turkish Detention: Systematic Abuse and Legal Breaches.” This publication documented widespread rights violations against women and children detained over the last ten years, focusing on the lack of judicial due process, poor detention conditions, and the broader legal implications of these practices.
During Plenary Session 8: Tolerance and Non-Discrimination III (Violence against Women, Gender, and Equality of Opportunity), one of our representatives raised the issue of approximately 16,000 women, some of them pregnant, currently imprisoned in Turkey as of September 2025, including 822 children under six held alongside their mothers. The intervention also highlighted the situation of 4,593 minors aged between 12 and 18, detained without fair judicial or administrative trial, in violation of international conventions such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Throughout the conference, our delegation held constructive exchanges with policymakers, NGOs, and human rights defenders. The Foundation reaffirmed its call for accountability and adherence to international humanitarian and human rights law, stressing that no violation—regardless of where it occurs—should remain unaddressed.
The Justice and Human Rights Foundation remains steadfast in its mission to document, expose, and combat human rights abuses. We will continue to advocate for justice, support victims, and contribute to global efforts to uphold human dignity and the rule of law.
For more information, please contact:
Justice and Human Rights Foundation
*Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/osceorg/54838495941/in/album-72177720329518669/
Day 2 // Tuesday, 7 October 2025
OSCE/Piotr Dziubak
