The list of concerns included "Continued Arbitrary or Unjust Arrests and Detentions", "Targeting of Political Opposition", and "Torture and Mistreatment".
[7] The Vienna Mechanism was activated on 20 December 2024 by Albania, Austria, Belgium, and thirty-four other OSCE member states in relation to the reports of human rights violations, including ill-treatment and injuries of detained protestors, interference and violence against journalists, and the impunity of police officers suspected of the violations during the 2024 Georgian post-election protests.
The states posed eight specific questions regarding investigations and protections of human rights, to be answered within ten days, per the Vienna Mechanism.
[8] As of July 2024[update], the Moscow Mechanism had been activated fifteen times, including within the context of armed conflicts that affected civil society.
[10][11] The report of the Mission of Experts composed by Wolfgang Benedek, Veronika Bílková and Marco Sassòli was presented to the OSCE Permanent Council on 13 April 2022.
The report documented clear patterns of violations of international humanitarian law by the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine.
[13][14] The mission's report, presented on 14 July 2022 to the OSCE Permanent Council, confirmed the outcomes of the previous mission and identified blatant violations of international humanitarian law, mainly attributable to the Russian armed forces, as well as widespread violations of human rights, especially in the territories occupied by the Russian Federation.
[15] On 28 July 2022, 38 OSCE participating states activated the Moscow Mechanism for the establishment of an expert mission to investigate human rights violations in Russia.
[3] In February 2024, the Moscow Mechanism was invoked by 45 participating states, with the aim of "address[ing] arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Ukrainian civilians by the Russian Federation".
The legally invalid reasons for most of the detentions were "[the civilians'] general support for Ukraine and rejection of the Russian occupation, to force them into cooperation with the occupying powers, or [to] spread fear in the population".