On February 24, on the anniversary of the large-scale Russian aggression, OSCE officials and structures made a number of statements, which are important in the context of the further de-occupation of the territories of Ukraine, including the Crimea, and which condemned the Russia’s atrocities.
OSCE ODIHR Director Matteo Mecacci pointed out that human rights violations must end, and those responsible be held accountable. He pointed that OSCE Office has conducted interviews with some 140 survivors and witnesses of violations both in Ukraine and outside the country, finding credible evidence that the conduct of hostilities by the Russian Federation has been characterized by a general disregard for the basic principles set out by international humanitarian law.
A statement was also made by the current OSCE Troika Chairman-in-Office, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, together with OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid, President of OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Margareta Cederfelt and Secretary General Roberto Montella:
It stated that Russia’s aggression must stop and states must ensure that there is no impunity for international crimes committed in and against Ukraine, including for war crimes and the crime of aggression committed in Ukraine, that its perpetrators should be prosecuted before the appropriate court.
In addition, on February 24, a Joint Statement of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Bureau “Action on the One-Year Anniversary of Russia’s War Against Ukraine and the International Legal Order”, was made. It condemned Russia’s conduct of its war of aggression, marked by extreme and deliberate brutality; the indiscriminate targeting of Ukrainian civilians and destruction of civilian infrastructure; the use of torture and rape as weapons of war; the kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children for forced adoption and assimilation; efforts to assail Ukrainian identity and the destruction of cultural property; and countless other violations of the fundamental tenets of international humanitarian law and human rights law.
The Joint Statement specifically referred to Russia’s disinformation campaigns, including at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, to deny or obscure the nature of its criminal and barbaric war against Ukraine, are as transparently false as they are repulsive, as the truth of Russia’s crimes is plain for all to see.
In a Joint Statement, the OSCE PA Bureau declared the duty to never recognize the illegal occupation of Ukraine’s territory and to hold accountable, in co-ordination with Ukraine, those responsible for such crimes, including by supporting existing international judicial structures or mechanisms, and to consider the establishment of a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression.
The OSCE PA Bureau also called to examine potential legal mechanisms for the use of frozen assets of the Russian Federation for the reconstruction of Ukraine’s ruined critical infrastructure; to support the children of Ukraine to overcome the trauma they have experienced as well as provide educational opportunities, and to assist Ukraine in recovering or restoring its cultural heritage.
