The OSCE’s parliamentary assembly on Wednesday completed its five-day annual session in Birmingham, England, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Poland’s Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau took part in the event as the OSCE’s chair for the duration of this year.
In line with tradition, on the last day, OSCE lawmakers adopted a final document, the so-called Birmingham Declaration.
Meanwhile, Polish parliamentarians tabled a resolution condemning Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The OSCE parliamentary assembly, by a unanimous vote, included the Polish resolution in the Birmingham Declaration.
The head of the Polish delegation, Barbara Bartuś of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, hailed this as “a great success for Poland and the Polish delegation.”
Polish resolution
The Polish resolution notes “the role of the OSCE Human Dimension for setting new standards to strengthen protection of human rights and democratic institutions in the region.”
It further states that the OSCE lawmakers are “extremely concerned by the tragic impact of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, including clear patterns of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law committed by Russian forces in invaded Ukraine, as confirmed by the report of the OSCE Moscow Mechanism experts, and deplore the increasingly tragic human impact of said aggression.”
The Polish resolution goes on to say that “the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine, targeting civilian and non-military infrastructure, has led millions to flee their homes, 90 percent of whom are women and children according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, creating a humanitarian and human-trafficking crisis, as refugees are particularly vulnerable to being targeted by human traffickers, not only as they flee but also through online offers of housing and employment.”
The text further states that the OSCE parliamentary assembly condemns “savage attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructures, as well as sexual and gender-based violence, including rape and human trafficking.”
The Polish resolution goes on to say that the OSCE parliamentary assembly:
“Condemns in the strongest terms the Russian military aggression against Ukraine;”
“Calls upon all participating States, in particular those receiving large numbers of Ukrainian refugees, to make full use of ODIHR’s updated handbook on National Referral Mechanisms and to continue to develop and support actions to raise awareness and protect Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons from falling prey to human traffickers;” and
“Calls on relevant OSCE structures to collect evidence of possible war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, or violations of international human rights law in Ukraine for use in future legal proceedings.”
The Polish delegation, which tabled the resolution, consisted of four Law and Justice lawmakers and one parliamentarian from the opposition Civic Coalition grouping, the PAP news agency reported.
Wednesday was day 133 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, oscepa.org