organization:osce mission

Statement by Head of OSCE Mission to Skopje on President Ivanov’s decisions to pardon 56 individuals | OSCE
▻http://www.osce.org/skopje/233646

Head of the OSCE Mission to Skopje Nina Suomalainen has taken note of President Gjorge Ivanov’s 41 decisions published yesterday in the Official Gazette to pardon 56 individuals.

While the stated intention of the President was to contribute to the resolution of the ongoing crisis, the citizens nevertheless are entitled to see political and legal accountability being carried out. The judiciary and the Special Prosecutor’s Office must be allowed to continue to do their very important work in line with the principles of independence and impartiality. 

The investigation of the cases surrounding and arising from the content of the unauthorized interception of communications, and subsequent court cases should help rebuild the trust of citizens in the rule of law and in a well-functioning and impartial justice system.

Russia backs bigger OSCE mission in Ukraine - Yahoo News
▻http://news.yahoo.com/russia-backs-bigger-osce-mission-ukraine-124049940.html

Russia said on Saturday it wanted to see a bigger European monitoring mission in Ukraine to help oversee withdrawal of mortars, tanks and light artillery under recent agreements.

Russia’s backing for an expanded Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission may be a further sign it wanted to see the peace process succeed, an outcome that could eventually lead to Western sanctions against Russia being eased.

“Russia is in favor of increasing the number of observers to the maximum permitted 1000,” a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said, adding that the mission presently has 543 staff.

Foreign monitors come under ’targeted’ fire in Ukraine - Yahoo News
▻http://news.yahoo.com/foreign-monitors-come-under-targeted-fire-ukraine-185058453.html

The Organization for the Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been at the heart of global efforts to end a 15-month conflict between Western-backed Kiev and pro-Russian insurgents that has already claimed more than 6,500 lives.

The Cold War-era peace enforcement body reports ceasefire violations and arranges periodic talks aimed at salvaging an often-ignored truce signed in February with the help of the leaders of Germany and France.

But its Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) — comprising almost 500 members who are predominantly based in the separatist east — said the number of incidents in which its teams have come under attack has grown markedly since the weekend.

“In the past days the SMM has faced three separate, targeted security incidents in certain locations in the conflict zone,” deputy mission chief Alexander Hug told reporters in Kiev.

“In response to security incidents over past days SMM is reviewing its monitoring operations in certain locations.”

On rappellera que depuis quelques jours les milices d’extrême droite mènent une offensive médiatique contre l’OSCE.

Par exemple :

OSCE mission takes biased attitude to Ukraine servicemen say
▻http://zik.ua/en/news/2015/07/27/osce_mission_takes_biased_attitude_to_ukraine_servicemen_say_610871

The OSCE mission task is to monitor and report objectively on the military situation in Donbas. However, Ukrainian servicemen say the mission officers are biased in their reporting.

They explain this by the fact that there are many Russian observers on its staff. 

Says speaker of the Pravy Sector Corps Andry Sharashkin, “The OSCE mission in Ukraine has discredited itself as independent observers. There is a lot of evidence that it is staffed by numerous former and present FSB officers who relay information and positions of the Ukrainian army to the rebels.”

 “When OSCE observers come to our positions we know for sure there won’t be any shelling. We can walk about without bullet-proof jackets and helmets. As soon as they leave, the shelling comes,” says Mykola Tyhonov, officer of the 93rd Brigade.

OSCE chairperson calls for organization of local elections acceptable to both Donbas, Kyiv
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/osce-chairperson-calls-for-organization-of-local-elections-acceptable-to-b

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ivica Dacic calls for a political settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

(intégralité de la brève, comme souvent le titre en dit plus : acceptable to both…)

Il faut dire l’actuel président de l’OSCE est le ministre des Affaires étrangères serbe…

No ammunition moved through Russia-#Ukraine border - #OSCE monitors — RT News
▻http://rt.com/news/181260-osce-ukraine-russia-arms

OSCE observers stationed at two Russian border checkpoints, the Ukrainian counterparts of which are controlled by the Ukrainian military, have not witnessed any movements of weapons across the border.

The monitors did witness young people “dressed in military style” moving across the border into Ukraine, Paul Picard, acting chief observer of the OSCE Mission, told journalists. However, all of them were unarmed.

There were also no instances of military vehicles crossing the border in some two weeks which the observers spent at Gukovo and Donetsk checkpoints, he added.

He added that the OSCE did its part in assisting the international effort to check a Russian humanitarian aid convoy before it would be allowed into Ukraine, but said the organization has little impact here, because the progress with the convoy depends on Russian and Ukrainian authorities and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The presence of the observers on the Russian side of the border was part of an agreement aimed at deescalating the conflict in eastern Ukraine. They were invited amid Kiev’s claims that Russia supplies arms and military vehicles to the armed militia fighting against the Ukrainian troops in Donetsk and Lugansk Regions.

The monitors were supposed to be deployed after a ceasefire by Kiev, but Moscow agreed to host them unconditionally as a gesture of goodwill.

(intégralité de l’article)

Les deux groupes de l’OSCE toujours retenus Ukraine.
La Russie exige le maintien d’observateurs.

Russia demands that OSCE observers remain in Ukraine | News | DW.DE | 31.05.2014
▻http://www.dw.de/russia-demands-that-osce-observers-remain-in-ukraine/a-17674667

Four monitors remained in detention on Saturday, with pro-Russian separatist leader Vladimir Rogov confirming the men were suspected of espionage."We are in constant contact with the OSCE mission," said Rogov. “They know that their boys are okay.”
Russian mediators are in negotiations on behalf of the detained men, who include a Dane, an Estonian, a Swiss and a Turk. The group was stopped by a group of armed men at a roadblock near to Donetsk on Monday. A second group of five people is also being held, although it remained unclear on Saturday if they had been accused of any offense.
(…)
A Russian Foreign Ministry statement on Saturday said that the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) should maintain a presence in Ukraine’s restive east, given Kyiv’s crackdown on separatists in the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.
“Amid Kyiv’s intentionally intensified punitive operation in the east of the country, it is essential to step up the work of international observers,” read part of the statement, published in response to comments by Wolfgang Ischinger, the OSCE coordinator on national dialogue in Ukraine.
Ischinger told the German broadcaster ZDF that the the monitor mission might have to withdraw if the organization fears for its employees’ lives.