Romania Joins the Process to Activate the ‘Moscow ODIHR Mechanism’ against Russia

Romania has joined a group of 44 Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) participating states in activating the Moscow ODIHR Mechanism to assess the impact on human rights and the humanitarian situation caused by the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.

According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE), the invocation of this mechanism facilitates the dispatch of an ODIHR expert mission to establish the facts and circumstances surrounding possible ODIHR commitments and violations and abuses of international human rights humanitarian law by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Romania’s decision to support this initiative continues its efforts to firmly condemn the Russian aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders.

Forty-five countries, including Romania, had invoked Article 12 of the Document of the Moscow Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the ODIHR, known as the Moscow Mechanism, to send an expert mission to Ukraine to investigate possible violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as potential cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to a March 3 meeting of the ODIHR Standing Committee.

When the Moscow Mechanism is activated, a mission of independent experts will be dispatched to investigate Russian violations of the ODIHR‘s human dimension obligations.

What is ODIHR and what is his role within OSCE

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) provides support, assistance and expertise to participating States and civil society to promote democracy, rule of law, human rights and tolerance and non-discrimination. ODIHR observes elections, reviews legislation and advises governments on how to develop and sustain democratic institutions. The Office conducts training programmes for government and law-enforcement officials and non-governmental organizations on how to uphold, promote and monitor human rights.