Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

The human being is at the heart of the OSCE's comprehensive security concept. Protecting human rights and effectively addressing violations constitute important elements for advancing human security throughout the OSCE region.

While personnel at OSCE field missions often have contact with individuals alleging that their human rights have been violated, it is not always clear how to deal with such complaints. This handbook was designed to help field personnel identify the best ways to address individual human-rights complaints by providing practical guidance on how to receive, process, and follow up on such complaints.

In addition to assisting individuals, an analysis of individual complaints can also help identify weaknesses in national human-rights protection systems. Enhancing the capacity of field mission personnel to deal with complaints more systematically could contribute to the OSCE's efforts to co-operate with governments in developing strong democracies in line with their human dimension commitments.