Our human rights mandate

The respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is enshrined in the 1975 Helsinki Final and is an essential element of the OSCE’s comprehensive concept of security. At the time of the Helsinki negotiations in the early 1970s, the mere fact that human rights, a long-standing taboo in East-West relations, had become a legitimate subject of dialogue, represented progress. Many humanitarian cases, such as family contacts, family reunification and bi-national marriage, could be resolved as a result of the CSCECSCE
Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Helsinki negotiations.

Human rights became an intrinsic part of most official meetings and conferences following the Helsinki Final Act’s signature, but the most fundamental ones were the Charter of Paris for a New Europe and the Helsinki Document 1992, titled The Challenges of Change. With the Charter of Paris, the States established the Conflict Prevention Centre, the Parliamentary Assembly and the Office for Free Elections (later renamed the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights).

In the Helsinki Document 1992, the participating States reaffirmed their commitment to human rights standards and principles, stating that “Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the rights of persons belonging to national minorities, democracy, the rule of law, economic liberty, social justice and environmental responsibility are our common aims.” They also unequivocally underlined that the “protection and promotion of the human rights and fundamental freedoms and the strengthening of democratic institutions continue to be a vital basis for our comprehensive security”.

Over the following decades, the OSCE States further developed the Organization’s human rights mandate and adopted a large number of politically binding commitments relating to what has become known as the human dimension of the OSCE’s comprehensive security concept. A thematic and chronological compilation of these commitments provides an overview of the States' commitments in the human dimension.