OSCE begins documenting Russia’s war crimes

The OSCE launched the Moscow Mechanism regarding the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Ukrainian civilians by the Russian Federation.

This was announced by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets.

It is noted that this mechanism will allow to start an investigation into Russia’s gross violations of the norms of international humanitarian law. The mission must establish the facts and investigate the accompanying crimes, such as torture or inhuman treatment.

“During every meeting with representatives of the OSCE, representatives of Ukraine raised this issue, and emphasized that this is a large-scale war crime by the Russian Federation against peaceful Ukrainians, for which there should be severe punishment. In the near future, a group of independent international experts will begin an investigation into crimes committed by Russia against Ukrainian civilians. The mission’s mandate is to establish the facts and investigate the accompanying crimes, such as torture or inhumane treatment, etc., Lubinets said.

The Lithuanian prosecutor’s office has informed three militants of the so-called “DNR” of suspicion, who are involved in the torture and murder of director Mantas Kvedaravicius, a citizen of this country, on April 2, 2022, during the capture of Mariupol. At the beginning of the war, a Lithuanian director was killed in Mariupol, who was helping Ukrainian civilians to escape from the city, for which fierce battles were fought at that time.