Preventing violations of international humanitarian law and protecting civilians require closer cooperation, OSCE leaders say

VIENNA/WARSAW, 28 March 2022 – To achieve progress on implementing the commitments made by all OSCE countries to resolve disputes peacefully and ensure stability in the region, urgent consultation is needed to increase co-operation to protect civilians and investigate and prosecute violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, OSCE leaders said at the opening of a two-day conference today.

Some 250 people from across the OSCE region registered for the meeting in Vienna, the first time it has been held in person since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Representatives of OSCE states, civil society, international organizations and national human rights institutions will discuss the legal obligation to safeguard civilian populations, as well as the need to document violations wherever they take place, and to find innovative tools to assist human rights defenders on the ground.

“Initially, we have planned the first human dimension meeting during Poland’s Chairmanship-in-Office to be focused on general aspects of the promotion and protection of human rights. However, Russia’s invasion on Ukraine dramatically changed the situation, as it has changed the world we live in,” said Polish Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Zbigniew Rau. “Every day of this invasion we see with horror the Russian forces attacking civilians, including women and children. I condemn in the strongest terms the unprovoked Russian military aggression against Ukraine. I will spare no efforts to mobilize international community to stop the war. This is the only way to restore a respect for international humanitarian and human rights law in the invaded country. This is also the only way to maintain comprehensive security in the OSCE area.”

International humanitarian law expressly prohibits deliberate attacks against civilians, and requires states to protect  all those who are not directly participating in the hostilities from attack, violence or terrorist acts. They also need to allow rapid and unimpeded access of humanitarian relief to civilians in need, including food and medicine, and create humanitarian corridors when necessary. Countries are obliged by international humanitarian law to take every effort to prevent violations from taking place, as well as later investigating and prosecuting war crimes.

“It is vital that obligations under both international humanitarian and human rights law are upheld, and civilians are protected from harm during armed conflicts. But whenever bombs fall, human rights and democratic guarantees are under threat,” said ODIHR Director Matteo Mecacci. “We are currently bearing witness to the suffering of innocent civilians and the denial of human rights to millions of people, making our discussions today all the more important.”

In order to ensure the accountability of perpetrators, it is important to discuss how information about potential abuses can be investigated and documented in the context of international armed conflict, which tools and methodologies have been developed to this end, and what the greatest challenges are in collecting and compiling information.

In today’s digital world, technology offers innovative opportunities for human rights defenders to document human rights violations during armed conflict, with their work relying to a great extent on digital technologies to improve fact-finding missions. At the same time, human rights defenders have themselves increasingly become the target of threats, including from states using high-tech surveillance software. Providing tools for defenders to avoid internet disruption, hacking, cyberbullying, or even life-threatening danger, is therefore ever more important.

All OSCE countries have committed to “respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law including the protection of the civilian population” in the event of armed conflict taking place. In the same document, they recalled “that those who violate international humanitarian law are held personally accountable”.

Supplementary Human Dimension Meetings are a platform for the OSCE’s participating States and OSCE institutions, as well as international organizations and civil society, to exchange views and good practices in order to find common solutions for the challenges facing societies across the OSCE region. Today’s discussion is the first such meeting of 2022, with two more planned for this year.