OSCE Will Investigate Allegations Against Russia on Child Abductions
The abduction of Ukrainian children in the wake of Russia's war of aggression is to be investigated within the framework of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Deportations of Ukrainian children as part of Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine will finally be investigated. / Picture: © Mirek Pruchnicki from Przemyśl, Sanok, Polska, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry report accuses Russia of abducting children from Donbas and sending them illegally to Russia. More than 2,300 children have been reported as being kidnapped by Russian forces, which has been corroborated by the U.S. embassy in Kyiv.
The Austrian-founded, internationally active aid organization SOS Children's Villages has also already faced accusations of being involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children to Russia, as Vindobona.org reports.
The OSCE's human rights office found corresponding reports credible in December. Moscow denies war crimes and insists the children were taken to safety before the war.
Today, and 44 #OSCE countries set up independent expert mission together with to look into credible allegations of #Russia’s forced deportations of children from #Ukraine.
— Christian Grønbech-Jensen (@DKambVIENNA) March 30, 2023
Report out in April @osce_odihr for updates on how to submit evidence to mission.#MoscowMechanism pic.twitter.com/JRvB2SW9LA
A group of 45 OSCE states, in consultation with Kyiv, has now launched a process to investigate the allegations. On behalf of the 45 states, Germany's OSCE Ambassador Gesa Bräutigam called for an expert mission to gather facts to be made available to "national, regional or international courts or tribunals."
Deeply honoured to read the statement today on behalf of 45 states invoking @OSCE #MoscowMechanism to investigate #Russia’s deportation of Ukrainian children as a means of its ongoing war on.
— Gesa Braeutigam (@GbGesa) March 30, 2023
We stand with Ukraine to return all forcefully held in & territories occupied by . pic.twitter.com/ESEy8KCpBl
The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in mid-March for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, Vindobona.org reported. According to the court, he is allegedly responsible for the child deportations.