BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

22/09/2010

OSCE reviews code of conduct

MINSK, Belarus, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The code of conduct for the security operations of OSCE member states focuses on the protection of weaker states, a delegate in Minsk said.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe adopted its code of conduct for the security sector of member states in 1994. The 56-member organization touts the code as the "most comprehensive" set of norms outlining the use of military force within and between states, the organization said.

Delegates are gathered in Minsk for a two-day meeting to focus on the best ways to implement the code of conduct.

Benedikt Haller, the head of the OSCE offices in Minsk, said the organization is the only one of its kind to apply a comprehensive approach to security matters.

For his part, Wolfgang Zellner, a top researcher for the OSCE, said the purpose of the code was to deter aggression.

"With its comprehensive approach, the code has much to contribute to the normative basis of future European security," he said in a statement.

An OSCE police advisory group is tasked with restoring trust in southern Kyrgyzstan after violence erupted between the ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities following an April coup.

Source:

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/09/22/OSCE-reviews-code-of-conduct/UPI-31821285181078/