Follow-up to the Warsaw Human Dimension Implementation Meeting

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We very much welcome the discussion on follow-up to the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM) in Warsaw.

The ultimate effectiveness of the HDIM lies in whether OSCE States improve implementation of their OSCE human dimension commitments. It is, therefore, up to all of us to take action. Let me here note several of our ideas for next steps that the OSCE, as an organization, can take to help individual States improve their human rights records.

On issues related to the rule of law:

We noted that NGOs repeatedly called for an independent and effective judicial system, which is crucial for a redress of human rights violations. ODIHR [OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights] should step up judicial training programs and legislative drafting assistance, as appropriate and with adequate resources. We believe this issue also deserves special attention next year, perhaps as one of the three special topics for the HDIM. This would appropriately follow-up this year's ODIHR Seminar.

Police and police training also received significant attention in Warsaw. We look forward to the Supplementary Human Dimension meetings (SHDIM) later this month on community policing. We urge the Senior Police Advisor to continue to make progress on the Bucharest Ministerial Decision #9 for provision and coordination of police training to requesting participating States, including increasing community policing capacity, and the convening of annual meetings of police experts from OSCE participating States.

We look forward to the development of OSCE police training programs, particularly in Central Asia. We also would be interested in exploring the Human Rights Watch recommendation that the OSCE build a traveling police training course. We second Canada's proposal that the Senior Police Advisor also provide police training "toolkits" for OSCE participating States regarding domestic violence and trafficking in persons.

Also related to the rule of law, we second the Human Rights Watch idea of a SHDIM on Corruption and Human Rights.

Lastly, on the rule of law, the U.S. remains concerned about continuing reports of torture in OSCE States. We are particularly troubled by the cases of Mazafar Avazov and Khushmiddin Olimov, both of whom died while in custody in Jaslyk prison in Uzbekistan. We urge the Government of Uzbekistan to more thoroughly investigate these deaths, and to bring to justice those who are responsible.

Likewise, we call for a Ministerial commitment urging all OSCE participating States to treat confessions and other evidence obtained through the use of torture as inadmissible in legal proceedings.

On follow-up related to tolerance:

We note that the Chairmanship has already established a working group to examine whether the Porto Ministerial should address issues related to tolerance. We believe there are three issues that warrant further OSCE attention.

First, many participants in Warsaw raised concern over the surge of anti-Semitic activity in the OSCE region. We believe the Porto Ministerial needs to address this issue and condemn such occurrences. We note that this issue should also be the subject of a special meeting next year.

Second, in Warsaw we also heard about religious communities facing increasing intolerance and being attacked for their beliefs. At the Porto Ministerial, our States should commit themselves to ensure that the law is enforced when intolerance manifests itself in criminal acts.

Such attacks have occurred repeatedly in Georgia over the past three years, sometimes with the participation of local law enforcement officers. We call on the Government of Georgia to condemn such acts, and to hold those responsible accountable.

We also support the Holy See’s repeatedly expressed concern at the HDIM that recent freedom of movement problems for Catholic clergy are a real obstacle to religious freedoms.

Freedom of religion is also threatened in the OSCE region by the proliferation of excessive registration requirements or bureaucratic obstacles that are often used to stamp out religious-based movements which are deemed hostile to governments. A SHDIM next year should address this, following-up on the excellent seminar hosted in the Netherlands last year.

Roma continue to be a target of intolerance and violence. Among other incidents in the OSCE region, the most recent report of violence towards Roma was when several persons attacked 3 Roma in Poprad, Slovakia, leaving a young woman with serious injuries. This report highlights the need for all governments to condemn such attacks when they are racially motivated. We note and welcome Slovak officials' investigation of the individuals involved in this case. It also highlights the need for a special meeting next year on Roma issues in the OSCE region, perhaps at the annual ODIHR seminar. The Porto Ministerial could also usefully address the topic, including the issue of Roma education, which was raised by the Parliamentary Assembly.

On the issue of freedom of media:

The U.S. noted our concern about a number of problems regarding freedom of the media, including the recent sentencing of journalist Viktar Ivashkevich in Belarus for insulting the Head of State, Lukashenko, and the intimidation of journalists in Kazakhstan. Any attacks on media institutions must be fully and transparently investigated.

One issue that NGOs raised as being a hindrance to free media is difficulty in accessing government information. Access to reliable information could do much to increase cooperation between journalists and authorities, as well as to strengthen the reliability and professionalism of the media. We support an OSCE meeting on this topic.

We also support a Ministerial commitment at Porto urging States to repeal criminal defamation laws, and to instead use only civil laws, as appropriate. We urge States not to use these laws to intimidate journalists or to restrict freedom of expression.

On the issue of elections:

My delegation welcomed the full day attention to elections, as one of the cornerstones of ODIHR’s work. While we were in Warsaw, elections took place in Macedonia. ODIHR and the OSCE Mission in Skopje contributed significantly to the positive conduct of these elections. We encourage further work in this regard.

We support ODIHR's recommendation that it could submit periodic reports to the Permanent Council on measures that participating States are undertaking to follow-up election observation mission recommendations.

Recommendations to elaborate election standards need to be studied carefully, particularly in view of the fact that commitments adopted in 1990 by participating States in Copenhagen already represent the most comprehensive compilation of election standards adopted by any international institution.

In closing, Mr. Chairman, I would like to address some issues related to the meeting itself. Overall, the United States believes this to have been a very productive meeting.

We were, however, dismayed that there was no representative from the Government of Turkmenistan in attendance at any time during the two week period of the meeting. We remain deeply concerned about the human rights abuses in Turkmenistan, regret Turkmenistan’s lack of participation, and urge Turkmen officials to participate in future meetings, and to implement Turkmenistan’s OSCE commitments.

The large number of issues and concerns raised in Warsaw underscore the importance of regularly reviewing the implementation of our OSCE human dimension commitments. We believe this to be extremely healthy.

We also believe that this year's meeting showed a renewed interest, particularly from the NGO community. It is important that we build on this momentum by moving forward with concrete actions, particularly as we prepare for the Porto Ministerial.

Ambassador Stoudmann’s recommendation for an October meeting makes a great deal of sense as something that we would strongly support, to avoid such situations as was mentioned in the scheduling of a Permanent Council in Vienna to accommodate senior officials travelling to the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

With that said, we send kudos to you, Mr. Chairman, and to Ambassador Eide for his hard work and his final legacy to OSCE, to Ambassador Stoudmann and his ODIHR team for their hard work and dedication to making this last meeting such a success.

Thank you.