The OSCE Human Dimension at a crossroads

Abstract

The annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), which is generally considered to be the main annual human rights event in the Euro-Atlantic region, can be described as an international political ritual where our commitments to fundamental principles are measured against reality. The HDIM is a confrontation between the words and rhetoric generated in diplomatic debates, and the immediate, concrete impact of what happens in the real world. The sinners are called upon to repent. We are all sinners; but we are all part of an interdependent community of peoples and nations, dedicated to one another. The days are over when transgressions of common human rights standards can credibly be regarded as 'internal matters'. Today, human rights problems anywhere are matters of legitimate international concern. They are threats to human security, the security of a humanity, ultimately, without borders.