Poland in the OSCE

At the Permanent Council meeting, 41 OSCE participating states*, including Poland, invoked the Moscow Mechanism to address the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russia.

On the basis of the report, a mission of independent experts will be established to investigate the facts and circumstances regarding Russia's failure to comply with OSCE obligations, human rights violations, violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as well as cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to or resulting from Russia's violation of international humanitarian law in relation to prisoners of war.

On the basis of the information collected, including the testimonies of former prisoners of war, the Moscow Mechanism's experts will prepare a report containing not only the facts, but also recommendations, which will then be presented to the OSCE participating States at a meeting of the Permanent Council, which meets once a week at the level of ambassadors in Vienna.

Both the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in its March 2023 report and the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported on the systematic and widespread use of torture against Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian authorities, in detention centres in Russia and in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. According to these reports, Ukrainian prisoners of war are being tortured, being held in dire conditions of internment, they are facing a lack of food, access to hygiene and medical care, as well as limited communication, forced labour and lack of access for independent observers. Many of them were held in solitary confinement, deprived of the ability to communicate with their families and the outside world. The Russian authorities are subjecting Ukrainian prisoners of war to unlawful persecution for their participation in hostilities, use torture to coerce confessions, and refuse fair trials.

Witness testimonies show that many prisoners of war died in captivity due to executions, torture, ill-treatment and/or inadequate medical care, as well as inhumane conditions.

The OSCE Moscow Mechanism (1991) is one of the OSCE's tools for monitoring the implementation of and compliance with obligations in the area of human rights and democracy by OSCE participating States. The Moscow Mechanism is triggered on an ad hoc basis at the request of an individual participating State or group of participating States. Since Russia's attack against Ukraine (February 2022), the OSCE Moscow Mechanism has been activated five times:

• on 3 March 2022 and on 2 June 2022 to investigate Russia's violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in relation to Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine;
• on 30 March 2023 to investigate Russia's systemic deportation of children from Ukraine;
• on 29 February 2024 to investigate Russia’s violations of human rights law in the territory of Ukraine, in particular in relation to unlawfully detained civilians; and
• on 28 July 2022 on human rights violations in Russia.

Moscow Mechanism Report prepared by independent experts constitutes evidences of crimes committed by Russian aggressor in Ukraine that can be used by international in the peruse of accountability and justice and for crimes committed by Russia in connection with its aggression against Ukraine.

* Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America