ticipating States any particularly serious individual cases of violations of human rights. The participating States have various options for action in response to a violation, e.g., sending a fact-finding mission or reinforcing an existing field operation, but they usually limit themselves to exerting political pressure. Human Dimension Meetings, including the annual Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw, Supplementary Human Dimension Meetings held three times a year in Vienna, and Human Dimension Seminars, are designed to promote discussion of human dimension issues and concerns in all of the OSCE participating States. The Implementation Meeting in particular is intended to provide a forum for detailed review of how the participating States are implementing their human rights commitments. Individual cases are frequently raised and discussed at Human Dimension Meetings. Unlike the PC, Human Dimension Meetings are open to the press and to NGOs. Heads of field operations and other OSCE staff regularly attend Human Dimension Meetings and may, as they deem appropriate, raise individual cases. The Chairman-in-Office (CiO) is vested with overall responsibility for executive action by the OSCE and for representing the organization. CiOs have frequently raised human rights issues with participating States, including individual cases. Often, such interventions are made during visits to countries, but they may also be made from afar. Because the CiO is the most senior political figure in the OSCE, his or her interventions are normally at a very high level, often directly with the president of a country, and are taken very seriously. In a number of instances, interventions by a CiO have resulted in the release of political prisoners or other positive human rights steps. The CiO may raise a case with a government publicly or privately and may do so either because of his or her own concerns or at the recommendation of a field operation or an OSCE institution. Personal or Special Representatives of the Chairman-in-Office may be appointed by the CiO to deal with certain events, conflicts, crises, or regions. These individuals, depending on the mandate and instructions given to them by the CiO, may also be in a position to raise individual cases of human rights violations, and they frequently do so. For example, special representatives appointed to lead short-term election observation missions often comment on non-compliance by governments with their OSCE commitments on democratic elections, including in relation to individual cases. Special representatives dealing with conflict situations may raise conflict-related human rights violations. OSCE field operations should ensure that any personal or special representatives of the CiO dealing with 95 10