OSCE holds workshops in Central Asian Region on civil-military relations

VIENNA, 13 May - A team of OSCE experts are in Central Asia this week to promote OSCE standards on civil-military relations, including democratic oversight of the armed forces. The experts are meeting government officials and senior military personnel from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan who deal with military issues on a daily basis.

The team will share national experiences in the implementation of two OSCE sets of agreements - the Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security, and the regime of Confidence and Security Building Measures (CSBMs).

At the first workshop, which was concluded successfully today (13 May) in Dushanbe, the Deputy Minister of Defence of Tajikistan used the opportunity to emphasize the importance of the Code of Conduct for a newly democratic society.

The second workshop will be held on 15 and 16 May in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The role of the security forces in democratic societies is a major issue for the Organization. The Code of Conduct, agreed by the OSCE in 1994, stresses the value of the transformation of the military and paramilitary forces into professional structures that are fully accountable to parliament and government.

At the same time, it commits OSCE participating States to ensuring public access to information on military matters, including strategic defence planning, and binds them to the full observation of international humanitarian law.

These two workshops will provide an opportunity for officials from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to share national experiences and current issues with a renowned group of experts regarding the implementation of the Code of Conduct and the OSCE's regime of Confidence and Security Building Measures in the military sphere.

This dialogue on practical questions and potential problems is vital in developing regional co-operation and further promoting principles set out in the Code.

The expert team includes officials from the OSCE's Conflict Prevention Centre in Vienna, the Italian and Swiss Defence Ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, the Swedish Defence Research Institute and the Geneva Centre for Democratic Control of the Armed Forces.