The United States and 44 other countries in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) invoked a special mechanism Thursday to investigate alleged human rights violations by Russia during its war in Ukraine, “particularly with regard to the forced transfer and deportation of children by the Russian Federation.”
According to the US and several European governments, Russian President Vladimir Putin's administration forcibly deported thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, often to a network of dozens of camps where the minors underwent political reeducation.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) earlier this month issued arrest warrants for Putin and another Russian official related to the reported forced deportation.
In a joint statement, the group of OSCE countries said the so-called Moscow Mechanism, which is a serious step taken to look into allegations of human rights abuses, was invoked “as we continue to have concerns regarding violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law following Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine."
The statement noted that recent reports from OSCE’s independent expert missions confirmed the group’s shared concerns about Russia’s “violations of international humanitarian law in Ukraine, and, in particular, credible reports of forced transfer and deportation of Ukrainian civilians, including unaccompanied children.”
“Some of the violations may amount to crimes against humanity or war crimes,” the statement read.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the move, saying in a tweet, “we need resolute joint actions to stop this genocidal practice, return children back to Ukraine, and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable.”
The OSCE does not have the authority to legally punish Russia if it finds evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but the organization's findings can be given to other bodies that do.
Both Russia and Ukraine are members of the 57-nation OSCE.