Anouncement of civil society-led pre-event for OSCE delegations and stakeholders

Supporting Ukraine, Ukrainian civil society and Human Rights Defenders

 

Pre-event for OSCE delegations and stakeholders

Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting Pre-Event

10:00 – 12:00 CET, 28 March 2022

Location: Event Hall, Haus der Music, Sailerstatte 30, Vienna

The civil society-led event will be held prior to the start of the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting.

The event will provide timely updates on the human rights and security situation in Ukraine resulting from Russia’s full-scale invasion. It will also focus on next steps following publication of the Moscow Mechanism report in early April, as well as OSCE participating States can take to support Ukraine, Ukrainian civil society, and human rights defenders.

Speakers

Tetyana Pechonchyk, Human Rights Centre ZMINA

Kateryna Rashevska, Regional Centre for Human Rights

Olga Skrypnyk, Crimean Human Rights Group

Mariia Sulialina, Almenda

Svitlana Valko, Truth Hound

Yulia Erner, CivilM+Platform

Antanina Maslyka, Netherlands Helsinki Committee, Civic Solidarity Platform

Moderated by

Dave Elseroad, Human Rights House Foundation

PARTICIPANTS

Representatives of OSCE participating States, OSCE institutions and OSCE executive structures, representatives of inter-governmental organisations, representatives of civil society, experts from academia, think tanks are encouraged to register for the conference.

REGISTRATION
Please fill out this form by 26 March 23:59CET. The organisers will review registration information and confirm registration within 24 hours.To register follow the link Registration form

Participation is free of charge; however, travel and accommodation costs are borne by participants.

Context: The severe military escalation of Russia’s war against Ukraine on 24 February 2022 is a threat to European security and the democratic international order developed since the end of WWII.

For next 3 weeks, reporting from independent civil society actors and UN Special Procedures highlights abductions and arrests of Ukrainian activists, human rights defenders, volunteers, journalists, and political leaders in areas partially occupied by Russia; religious persecution by Russian forces in occupied regions; indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets, including hospitals, by the Russian military; and, actions to hinder the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those affected by the war. At the same time, Russia’s war against Ukraine has forced human rights defenders living in Ukraine, including Belarusian human rights defenders, to flee fearing reprisal by Russian forces. In response, the delegations of 45 OSCE participating States invoked the Moscow (Human Dimension) Mechanism to “address the human rights and humanitarian impacts of the Russian Federation’s invasion and acts of war, supported by Belarus, on the people of Ukraine, within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders and territorial waters”. At the same time, Ukrainian civil society has made a number of calls to the international community. The Kyiv Declaration, signed by more than 100 civil society activists, lays out six security-related demands. Ukrainian human rights organisations demand international monitoring missions. International human rights organisations urge states to ensure accountability, protect human rights defenders, and support independent media and journalists.