On 2 June 2022, 45 members of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), including Latvia, repeatedly initiated the establishment of an independent expert mission (Moscow Mechanism) to continue to investigate the war crimes and human rights violations perpetrated by Russia in Ukraine, including the atrocities committed in Bucha and elsewhere.
The OSCE will establish a mission of independent experts who will gather information and facts regarding contraventions of OSCE commitments, violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law, as well as establishing the facts and conditions of possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. The information contained in the mission expert report will be used in international courts and tribunals, which currently have or may have jurisdiction over these crimes.
Latvia joined the states that previously initiated Moscow Mechanism on 3 March in order to assess allegations of war crimes committed by Russian Armed forces in the territory of Ukraine. Independent experts produced a report, which was presented on 13 April. The report contained conclusions revealing clear indications of violations of international humanitarian law and credible evidence of human rights violations in the Russian occupied territories of Ukraine.