Warsaw Human Dimension Conference 26th September - 7th October 2022

The Danish Helsinki Committe for Human Rights strongly supports the appeal of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly of July 6th, 2022, to "all participating states, in particular those receiving large numbers of Ukrainian refugees, to make full use of the ODIHR's updated handbook on National Referring Mechanisms and to continue and support actions to raise awareness and protect Ukrainian refugees and internally displaced persons from falling prey to human traffickers" (Birmingham Declaration and Resolutions p. 55, § 11).

The Danish Helsinki Committee further supports urgent steps towards accountability for the

numerous violations of International Law as well as of human rights committed in Ukraine during this war. In this context the Committee finds it relevant to refer to the recommendation from April 2022 to the Committee of Ministers of The Council of Europe by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council. Here the Assembly calls for the setting up of an ad hoc international criminal tribunal to hold to account perpetrators of aggression against Ukraine. We fully support this important and tangible recommendation, joining the call of the OSCE PA 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 procedings" (ibidem, §12).

Furthermore, with reference to Article 49 TEU, The Danish Helsinki Committee stresses that Ukraine's expected accession to the EU must be based on respect for the relevant procedures and conditional upon the fulfillment of established criteria – in particular the merit-based Copenhagen criteria for EU membership – notably in the areas of democracy, the rule of law, human rights, market economy and implementation of the EU acquis.

However, The Danish Helsinki Committee emphasizes that to assist the economic development of Ukraine it is important that the Free Trade Area established between EU and Ukraine in 2016 is further developed during the upcoming negotiation process. That will contribute to Ukraine's gradual integration within the EU single market and enhance sectoral cooperation during the process.

Finally, The Council of Europe, of which Ukraine is a member State, should and can play an important role in preparing the country for EU membership in the areas of Human Rights, Democracy, and the Rule of Law. The Council of Europe's current Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2022 will hopefully be renewed for 2023-2027. Thus, the coming plan should particularly focus on assistance relevant for EU membership to the benefit of Ukraine, the Council of Europe, and the EU.

On behalf of the Danish Helsinki Committee for Human Rights

Asbjørn Storgaard
President