Poland in the OSCE

At the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council (29 January), 23 OSCE participating states* invoked the Moscow Mechanism on the human rights situation in Georgia. The launch of the OSCE's human dimension mechanism results in the establishment of an independent expert mission to examine the extent to which Georgia is implementing the OSCE commitments and to present recommendations.

The activation of the Moscow Mechanism follows the launch of the Vienna Mechanism on Georgia in December 2024, when 38 OSCE participating states** called on Georgia to provide clarifications on a number of issues of concern over the development following the announcement in November 2024 of Georgia's decision to suspend accession talks with the EU. Documented information from NGOs portrayed hundreds of arbitrarily detained protesters, reported restrictions on the right to peaceful assembly, publicised cases of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and torture by the police against detained demonstrators, as well as the persecution of opposition politicians, journalists and representatives of independent media.

During 2025, there has been a further deterioration in the situation of civil society, human rights defenders, representatives of independent media, who continue to be targeted by the structures of the Georgian power system. Successive legislative changes have even deprived most NGOs of the possibility of legally operating in Georgia.

The Moscow Mechanism Mission will prepare a report on the human rights situation in Georgia, taking into account the specific issues identified in its mandate, including:

• legislative reforms resulting in a reduction in space for civil society and independent media;
• legal action aimed at banning opposition activities;
• restrictions on freedom of association, expression and media;
• misuse of the judicial system to enforce a system of repression;
• excessive violence and arbitrary detention; as well as harassment and intimidation of opposition politicians, human rights defenders and journalists.

Poland fully supports the use of the OSCE human rights mechanism as an appropriate tool to establish the facts related to the current human rights situation in Georgia and to present appropriate recommendations.

The report of the independent expert mission and its recommendations will be discussed by ambassadors during one of the March meetings of the OSCE Permanent Council. Poland supports the OSCE participating countries to the extent permitted by the OSCE Moscow Mechanism.

The countries that activated the Moscow Mechanism appealed to Georgia for full cooperation with the expert mission. At the same time, it should be emphasised that the initiating states of the Moscow Mechanism on the human rights situation in Georgia, as well as Poland, continue to support the country in matters of territorial integrity, respect for Georgia's sovereignty and independence in connection with the occupation of part of Georgia's territory (Abkhazia and South Ossetia) by Russia.

For more information, see the website of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) https://odihr.osce.org/news/odihr/661963

The OSCE Moscow Mechanism (1991) is one of the OSCE's tools for monitoring the implementation and compliance with human rights and democracy commitments by OSCE participating states. The Moscow Mechanism is activated on an ad hoc basis at the request of a single participating state or a group of OSCE participating states.

 

* Moscow Mechanism (2026): Albania, Austria, Belgium, Montenegro, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Moldova, Germany, Norway, Czechia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

** Vienna Mechanism (2024): Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

 

Photo: Micky Kroell/OSCE