Washington DC, 29 July 2022 (TDI): The United States (US) and thirty-seven other nations created an expert mission, invoking the Organization of Security and Co-operation (OSCE) Moscow Mechanism.
The Mission will investigate allegations of human rights violations in Russia. Russia has been accused of human rights violations in the wake of the Ukraine war.
The United States and 37 partners invoked the @OSCE Moscow Mechanism to establish an expert mission to examine reports of human rights abuses in Russia. The Kremlin’s crackdown at home goes hand-in-hand with its aggression against sovereign neighbors. https://t.co/N1mrbJkpmC
— Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) July 28, 2022
Ned Price, the Spokesperson of the US State Department shared in a tweet that the “Kremlin’s domestic crackdown complements its aggressive behavior toward independent neighbors.”
The declaration highlighted the role Russia played in the conflict and extended serious transgressions of abusing international humanitarian law and human rights.
Therefore, the recently made invocation will be setting up an expert mission. The mission will be headed by the countries for being able to assess the state of human rights within Russia.
The objective of the specialists’ goal will be to determine whether Russia is going against its OSCE’s commitments to living beings.
Moreover, these will reflect on how the policies have affected media freedom and civil society. Furthermore, it will also show the effect of policies on the country’s capacity for democratic processes, and the rule of law.
OSCE Moscow Mechanism
The Moscow Mechanism is a mechanism that allows for the establishment of a short-term fact-finding mission so as to address a distinct human rights situation in the OSCE territory.
OSCE: An Overview
The Organization of Security and Co-operation (OSCE) was formed in Helsinki, Finland on 1st August 1975. The OSCE has fifty-seven participant states from three regions which are Europe, Asia, and North America.
Moreover, OSCE has a holistic approach to providing security. The cooperation has taken into account the economic, human, and environmental factors as well as military and political ones.
Furthermore, this platform addresses a bunch of issues related to human security like that of confidence building and weaponry management.
Also, measures to build security, human rights, minority rights, and tactics to manage counterterrorism activities are controlled at OSCE. Additionally, economic and environmental activities also add to their portfolio.
Russia-Ukraine War
The relationship deteriorated between Russia and Ukraine right after 2014. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is termed the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Just after the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity in February 2014, a conflict erupted between the two neighboring countries. Moreover, Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February.
Furthermore, the conflict between the two adversaries was centered on the status of Crimea and Donbas. Crimea and the Donbas both gained recognition by the international community as being a part of Ukraine.
