A Lecture at UNSA by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Benedek – “Violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Ukraine”
A guest lecture by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Benedek, Head of the OSCE Moscow Mission Research Mission to Ukraine and Honorary Doctor of the University of Sarajevo, was held on 9 May 2022. It was organized by the University of Sarajevo, European Regional MA Program for Democracy and Human Rights in Southeast Europe (ERMA) , and the Center for Human Rights.
Welcome to Prof. Benedek was delivered by Prof. Dr. Rifat Škrijelj, University of Sarajevo Rector. In it was that Professor Benedek, an honorary citizen of the City of Sarajevo and an UNSA honorary doctorate recipient, made an invaluable contribution to truth and justice in our country. “Unfortunately, despite our sincere hope that the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina is the last war in Europe, today we are once again witnessing the suffering of innocent civilians in the war in Ukraine as well as violations of basic human rights and huge material destruction of civilian buildings,” said Rector Škrijelj pointing out that the mission of Prof. Bendek is crucial for the overall efforts aimed at peace building and the promotion and protection of human rights, and that with today's lecture, the University of Sarajevo has the privilege to, thanks to the support of Prof. Bendek, to make his modest contribution to spreading the truth about the events in Ukraine.
ERMA Director, Prof. Dr. Asim Mujkić in his short introductory speech, pointed out that it was honor for Sarajevo, its University and the ERMA program for democracy and human rights, of which Professor Benedek is one of the founders, his sharing of the findings of the Violation Report, human rights and international humanitarian law in Ukraine. “There is no better way to mark this day, the day of European values, than to express our commitment to human rights and solidarity with the people of Ukraine and their innocent victims.”
On 3 March 2022, Ukraine, with the support of 45 OSCE member states, launched the Moscow Mechanism, which envisages a call for an expert mission to investigate a certain issue related to the so-called the human dimension of the OSCE in the territory of a member state. A three-member expert mission was elected, whose member is, among others, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Benedek, from the Institute of International Law and International Relations, and the European Center for Training and Research on Human Rights and Democracy at the University of Graz. The Mission presented its findings to the OSCE Permanent Council on 13 April 2022 in a report entitled “Report on Violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law: War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity Committed in Ukraine of 24 February 2022,” available here.
Within the lecture “Violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in Ukraine,” Prof. Benedek reminded that the Moscow Mechanism is the only means for quick investigation of alleged violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. A mission of experts chaired by Professor Benedek has prepared the first report of an international investigative body on war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. Key findings point to clear patterns of violations of international humanitarian law by the Russian occupation forces, often even direct attacks on health and educational institutions. When it comes to international human rights law, the mission noted a wealth of information on a range of violations, such as targeted killings, enforced disappearances or abductions of civilians, including journalists and local officials, accompanied by an increased gender-based violence.
Professor Benedek states that these findings raise the question of possible tools for determining responsibility, because the perpetrators must be prosecuted. He also stressed that the lecture is held on Europe Day, while Russia celebrates this day as Victory Day, which is a kind of antagonism given the international aggression that jeopardizes European values such as human rights and democracy.
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Short biography
For many years, Professor Wolfgang Benedek was the head of the Institute of International Law and International Relations and the Director of the European Center for Training and Research on Human Rights and Democracy at the Graz University. His main research interests are in the field of human rights, human security and Internet regulation, as well as international economic law where he is focused on the World Trade Organization and global governance. He is especially interested in Southeast Europe and Africa. He teaches international law and human rights law, international economic law, human rights in the Balkans and information society management as a lecturer at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, as well as at the universities of Ljubljana, Venice and Sarajevo. Honorary Doctorates were awarded to him by the University of Sarajevo and the University of Pristina for managing aid to those universities during and after the war. He is an honorary citizen of Sarajevo and co-founder and longtime head of the World University Service Austria, and currently the chairman of its supervisory board. He was the OSCE rapporteur under the Moscow Mechanism for Chechnya (2018), Belarus (2020) and Ukraine (2022).
