The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has opened an investigation into human rights violations and atrocities committed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The fact-finding mission comes after 45 countries invoked a rare OSCE mechanism that is used to investigate human rights issues.
“The mission has already begun and the experts have begun their work,” said Katya Andrusz, spokesperson for the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). “The investigation itself will last about three weeks, after which Ukraine will have the opportunity to comment on the report before it is finalized.”
An email account was created for people to submit information relevant to the fact-finding mission. Andrusz said the inbox is receiving a lot of information from multiple sources and will be open throughout the investigation.
The OSCE does not have the authority to legally punish Russia if it finds evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but its facts can be provided to other bodies that have that authority. The Moscow Mechanism is an important step and, according to the OSCE, it has only been triggered nine other times since its inception in 1991.
It was most recently used in 2020 to investigate human rights abuses in Belarus. Russia, Ukraine and Belarus are all OSCE members.
Source: CNN Brasil
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