Immigrants and refugees in some OSCE states often face enormous hurdles. In France, strict visa requirements have made it virtually impossible for asylum seekers to lawfully enter the country, resulting in a dramatic drop in asylum applications. Moldova still lacks national legislation on asylum and extradition. The report also documents other areas of non-compliance, including abuse by law enforcement officials. Unfair detention practices, such as barring detainees from access to lawyers, are also widely reported within OSCE member states.
Capital punishment is still part of the penal code in Albania, Latvia, and the United States.
Thirty-eight individuals were killed in the U.S. in 1998, including several people who may have been mentally ill or retarded, and a Paraguayan national who had not been notified of his right under the Vienna Convention to contact his embassy. Basic standards of international law, such as an impartial judiciary, are ignored in countries such as Belarus, where courts are subject to heavy political intervention. In Croatia, corrupt judges, unfair trial procedures, and ethnic biases have led to arbitrary arrests and convictions. Albania, consumed by political turmoil, still lacks a post-communist constitution. State control and restriction of the media is a significant problem in many countries.