OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism invoked to examine alleged human rights violations and abuses in the Republic of Belarus

Thirty-eight OSCE participating States invoked the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism on 23 March 2023 to examine “threats to the fulfilment of the provisions of the human dimension posed by human rights violations and abuses in the Republic of Belarus”.

The Moscow Mechanism, last invoked on 28 July 2022 in relation to the Russian Federation, provides the opportunity for OSCE participating States to send missions of experts to assist in the resolution of a particular question or problem relating to the human dimension of the OSCE. Further information is available here.

The Moscow Mechanism was last used in relation to Belarus in September 2020, when it was invoked by 17 OSCE participating States.

Any information relevant to this Moscow Mechanism can be sent to the following email address: moscowmechanism-belarus2023@odihr.pl. The information will then be forwarded to the expert mission, once established.

The 38 participating States that have invoked the Moscow Mechanism in this case are: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.