Abstract
This chapter outlines the structure of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and highlights the standard-setting advancement in the field of religious liberty found in the commitments undertaken by the OSCE participating States.
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The OSCE Participating States, according to the official French alphabetical order, are: 1. Albania, 2. Germany, 3. United States of America, 4. Andorra, 5. Armenia, 6. Austria, 7. Azerbaijan, 8. Belarus, 9. Belgium, 10. Bosnia Herzegovina, 11. Bulgaria, 12. Canada, 13. Cyprus, 14. Croatia, 15. Denmark, 16. Spain, 17. Estonia, 18. Finland, 19. France, 20. Georgia, 21. United Kingdom, 22. Greece, 23. Hungary, 24. Ireland, 25. Iceland, 26. Italy, 27. Kazakhstan, 28. Kyrgyzstan, 29. Latvia, 30. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 31. Liechtenstein, 32. Lithuania, 33. Luxembourg, 34. Malta, 35. Moldova, 36. Monaco, 37. Norway, 38. Uzbekistan, 39. Netherlands, 40. Poland, 41. Portugal, 42. Romania, 43. Russian Federation, 44. San Marino, 45. Holy See, 46. Slovak Republic, 47. Slovenia, 48. Sweden, 49. Switzerland, 50. Tajikistan, 51. Czech Republic, 52. Turkmenistan, 53. Turkey, 54. Ukraine, 55. Yugoslavia (suspended between 1992–2000). Serbia was admitted to the OSCE on 10 November 2000.
Tore Lindholm, W. Cole Durham, Jr., Bahia G. Tahzib-Lie (eds.), Facilitating Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Deskbook, 239–254. © 2004 Koninklijke Brill NV. Printed in the Netherlands.
Southeast Europe is the area of highest concentration for OSCE field activities. In 1992, the OSCE dispatched its first mission to Kosovo, Sandjak, Vojodina, and Skopje (FYR Macedonia). The Kosovo Verification Mission, which worked from October 1998 to March 1999, was the largest with 1,400 persons working under the UN Security Council Resolutions 1160 (1998) and 1199 (1998) to verify maintenance of the ceasefire, monitor movement of forces, provide assistance in return of refugees and displaced persons, supervise elections, and help in forming elected bodies of self-administration and police forces. The mission’s goal was also to promote human rights and democracy building. The mission was withdrawn by a decision of the Chairman-in-Office when situations became life-threatening for OSCE personnel. After the ceasefire, the mission was replaced by the OSCE part of the United Nations mission UNIMIK, with a similar mandate as the verification mission. The OSCE missions to Bosnia and Herzegovina, the OSCE Mission to Croatia, the spillover monitor mission to Skopje, and the OSCE presence in Albania still continue today. As of 1 September 2001, the mission to Skopje was enlarged to fifty persons.
See ECHR, art. 9; ICCPR, art. 18; 1981 Declaration. Charter for European Security (1999) (available online at.
For a current assessment of the status of religious liberty in the OSCE region, see Helsinki Monitor 9, no. 3(1999).
The Conference of European Churches (CEC) and the National Councils of Churches in the USA and Canada made a suggestion to the 1994 Review Conference in Budapest that the ODIHR hold a seminar “to evaluate the implementation of the CSCE commitments regarding religious freedom in newly drafted legal texts, with particular attention to southeastern Europe.”
The Norwegian Chairman-in-Office also hosted a roundtable discussion on “Religion and Conflict Prevention” in Oslo on 23 June 1999, which focused on how religion can be used to prevent or end conflicts.
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Gibson, U., Lord, K.S. (2004). Advancements in Standard Setting: Religious Liberty and OSCE Commitments. In: Lindholm, T., Durham, W.C., Tahzib-Lie, B.G., Sewell, E.A., Larsen, L. (eds) Facilitating Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Deskbook. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-5616-7_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-5616-7_11
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