The OSCE Moscow Mechanism mission of experts undertaken by Professor Veronika Bílková, Dr. Cecilie Hellestveit and Dr. Elīna Šteinerte presented their findings to the OSCE Permanent Council on 25 April 2024, collected in the report entitled 'Report on Violations and Abuses of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, related to the Arbitrary Deprivation of Liberty of Ukrainian Civilians by the Russian Federation'.
The three experts were selected after 45 OSCE participating States, following consultation with Ukraine, invoked the OSCE's Moscow Mechanism on 29 February 2024 to "build upon previous findings and establish the facts and circumstances surrounding possible contraventions of relevant OSCE commitments, violations and abuses of human rights, and violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as well as possible cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity, associated with or resulting from the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Ukrainian civilians by the Russian Federation; and to collect, consolidate, and analyze this information with a view to offer recommendations, as well as provide the information to relevant accountability mechanisms, as well as national, regional, or international courts or tribunals that have, or may in future have, jurisdiction".
The Mechanism, established by all OSCE participating States in 1991, allows for one or more participating States to request ODIHR to "inquire of another participating State whether it would agree to invite a mission of experts to address a particular, clearly defined question on its territory relating to the human dimension".
The Permanent Council is one of the OSCE's main decision-making bodies, and convenes each week in Vienna to discuss developments in the OSCE area and make decisions on future activities.
