The OSCE in Ukraine Update: June 2014 to November 2014

Mediation and Negotiation

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Swiss President and Foreign Minister, Didier Burkhalter, continues to intervene on the presidential and ministerial levels for a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine. Secretary General Lamberto Zannier continues efforts to defuse tensions through political contacts, including in high-level discussions with the UN, the EU, CSTO and NATO. These contacts run parallel to the constant interaction between the 57 participating States in Vienna.

The Tripartite Contact Group that includes Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE, represented by Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini, signed the Minsk Protocol on 5 September, which sets out terms for a ceasefire and a political process to resolve the crisis. The Minsk Memorandum, agreed on 19 September between the Trilateral Contact Group and representatives of certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, outlines steps to make the cease-fire sustainable.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has created an Inter-parliamentary Liaison Group on Ukraine aimed at de-escalation of the crisis.

Special Monitoring Mission

The mandate of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), originally agreed by consensus on 21 March 2014 and deployed to Kyiv, Kherson, Odessa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernivtsi and Luhansk, was extended in July 2014 and is currently running until March 2015.

As of mid-November, the mission consisted of about 300 international monitors from more than 40 participating States and about 130 local staff. Almost half of the monitors are in the east of the country. Four monitors from the Donetsk and four from the Luhansk team went missing at the end of May and were released a month later at the end of June.

After the tragic downing of the Malaysian Airlines MH17 aircraft on July 17, members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission were the first to be able to access the site. They facilitated access for Ukrainian, Malaysian, Dutch and Australian experts to investigate and recover bodies.

The monitors operate under the principles of impartiality and transparency to report on the security situation and engage in dialogue. Their daily reports are posted on the OSCE public website. They were mandated by the Minsk Protocol to monitor the ceasefire, which includes observing the activities of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination, established by the Ukraine Defence Ministry in Co-operation with Russia.

On 23 October 2014 the SMM began using unmanned aerial vehicles to support the fulfilment of its mandate.

Observer Mission

On 24 July, the  57 participating States decided by consensus to deploy an Observer Mission at the Russian checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk on the border with Ukraine. The decision was taken in response to an invitation from the Russian Federation following the Berlin Declaration of 2 July by the Foreign Ministers of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine.  The Observer Mission operates impartially and transparently, monitoring and reporting on movements across the border at the two checkpoints. The mandate of the Observer Mission has twice been extended by one month and currently runs until 23 December 2014. The observer mission’s weekly reports are posted on the OSCE website.

Election Observation

The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) issued the final report on its monitoring of the 25 May Ukrainian presidential election on 30 June.

More than 700 long-term and short-term observers were deployed by the OSCE election observation mission to monitor the 26 October early parliamentary elections. A joint statement of findings and conclusions was released the day after the elections. A final report from the mission will be released in December, 2014.

Military verification

Participating States have been conducting visits and inspections and requested consultations as regards unusual military activities since the beginning of the crisis, as provided for by the Vienna Document 2011 on military confidence and security building measures. Since 1 May 2014, 18 participating States have conducted 12 verification activities in Ukraine: one inspection under Chapter IX, on compliance and verification, and 8 inspections and 3 evaluation visits under Chapter X, on regional measures.

Rights and freedoms

The OSCE Office for Democratic Elections and Human Rights continues to strengthen institutions and safeguard human rights in Ukraine. This has included providing follow-up consultations with civil society on its Human Rights Assessment Mission to Ukraine, training on human rights monitoring, expert assistance on legal reforms and legislative drafting and monitoring of the situation of Roma as affected by the crisis.

The High Commissioner on National Minorities continues to monitor inter-ethnic tensions and advise the government, especially in the area of language policy. Her team participated in election observation and co-operates with the SMM. Her key concerns at present regard human rights abuses in Crimea and the need for shared institutions that have the trust of all citizens.

The Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovicć, continues to closely monitor media freedom and in particular threats to journalists’ safety in Ukraine. She has issued more than 15 public statements since June. Her office has hosted two roundtable discussions on journalists’ safety with representatives from Ukrainian and Russian journalists’ unions.  

Permanent presence

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in  Ukraine assisted the Central Election Commission in informing the public, especially internally displaced persons, on how to register to vote in the early parliamentary elections, producing two TV and three radio announcements. It trained election administrators online and provided more than 260,000 printed manuals and flow charts. 

To protect children and other civilians against the dangers of unexploded military ordnance, the OSCE presence produced public service announcements on safety precautions, provided training on humanitarian demining standards and delivered protective equipment to personnel working in the conflict-affected areas.

The Project Co-ordinator trained judges and other legal professionals on reviewing election-related disputes and handling human rights violation cases and facilitated important discussions in the legal community on how to reform the criminal justice system and improve human rights monitoring in response to the crisis’ impact. It introduced international practices for ensuring human rights protection in combating terrorism to State Security Service personnel.

In response to the heightened danger of trafficking in human beings in eastern Ukraine, it distributed information in co-operation with NGOs. It provided training and moderated discussions in Kyiv, Odessa and Kharkiv on rules for the safety of journalists and media ethics in crisis situations.     

This update follows up on “The OSCE in Ukraine “in Security Community 2/2014. For latest developments see the OSCE public website www.osce.org