Baku, Azerbaijan, July 9
Trend:
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly has adopted the 2015 Helsinki Declaration, containing the Assembly's wide-ranging policy recommendations and pronouncements for the OSCE and its 57 participating States in the fields of political affairs and security, economics, the environment and human rights, said the message posted on the OSCE website July 9.
The declaration is the final product of the Assembly's 2015 Annual Session, which was held this week in the Finnish capital to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the OSCE's founding document, the Helsinki Final Act. The Annual Session took place in historic Finlandia Hall, the site of the signing of the Act in 1975.
The declaration reaffirms the inalienable right of the populations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine displaced as a result of conflicts to return to their homes in safety and with dignity, and stresses the necessity of creating appropriate conditions for their soonest return.
The declaration also reaffirms the principles of inviolability of frontiers and territorial integrity of States, and recalls in that regard the established principle of international law on the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force, reaffirms that every State has the duty to refrain in its international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
The declaration also underlines the role of the rule of law in preventing conflict, mitigating the effects of the conflict once it has arisen, and in resolving conflicts, reaffirms its strong opposition to impunity for serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, and emphasizes the responsibility of States to comply with their relevant obligations to end impunity and to thoroughly investigate and prosecute persons responsible for war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or other serious violations of international humanitarian law, in order to prevent violations, avoid their recurrence and seek sustainable peace, justice, truth and reconciliation.
The final declaration urges all parties involved to engage in good faith in the search for negotiated solutions in order to achieve a comprehensive and lasting political settlement of the conflicts, including those affecting the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, based on the norms and principles of international law, in particular those relating to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the States concerned, and to make full use of the available conflict settlement mechanisms and formats to that effect.
The author of the resolution is Azay Guliyev, the Azerbaijani MP, the deputy chairman of the Committee on Political Affairs and Security of the OSCE PA.