The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights regretted this Tuesday that the world, tired of the multiple current crises on a global scale, seems to be indifferent to continued “serious violations of international law” committed by Russia in Ukraine.
“The situation in Ukraine has added to a litany of continuing suffering, and the world’s attention seems strained by the multiple crises we face. I sympathize with the Ukrainians, who are entitled to and deserve peace, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law. Instead, I fear that a prolonged and deep-rooted conflict will affect the lives and human rights of generations to come,” said Volker Türk.
Türk presented a press conference, in Genebra, to present the conclusions of the most recent High Commissioner’s report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine, published this week, which covers the period between August 1 and November 30, during which The UN documented the deaths of another 2,440 civilians.
Underlining that 662 days have passed since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine – next February will mark two years since the start of the conflict – the high commissioner noted that his office “continues to carry out exhaustive control and documentation reports” on the situation. human rights situation in Ukraine, and “documentation continues to indicate flagrant violations of international human rights law, serious violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes, mainly committed by forces of the Russian Federation.”
“Include 142 cases of summary execution of civilians since February 2022, in territory controlled by the Russian armed forces or occupied by the Russian Federation. In the occupied territory, We document widespread torture and ill-treatment of detainees.including sexual violence, as well as large number of forced disappearances”, he pointed.
Noting that, as of December 4, his office “recorded and confirmed more than 10,000 civilian deaths as a result of the conflict since February 2022, including more than 560 children,” in addition to another 18,500 civilians confirmed as injured, “many of them serious”. Volker Türk warned that “the real number of victims is probably substantially higher.”
According to the UN official, the report reveals that the almost 2,500 civilians killed during the last four months of the conflict until November 30 were victims of “explosive weapons with wide-range effects, such as artillery shells and rockets, cluster munitions and missiles”. , as well as the so-called dispersal munitions”.
“The majority of these civilians died in the areas of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, close to the front lines, and among them were a disproportionate number of elderly people, who were unwilling or unable to travel to a safer location. “, he claimed. he lamented.
He noted that “significant casualties were also recorded due to missile attacks launched by the Russian Federation against targets in densely populated residential areas, often far from the front lines.”
“In addition, mines and explosive remnants of war have caused more than a thousand civilian casualties since February 2022. This widespread presence of mines and explosive material in vast areas of Ukraine threatens the lives, rights and livelihoods of Ukrainians. both in the short and long term,” he warned.
Among the report’s conclusions, it also highlights that “more than 1,300 educational and health establishments have been damaged or destroyed since February 2022”, more than a hundred of them in the period covered by this report, so, currently, “only “Half of the children in Ukraine can attend in-person classes every day.”
Noting that Moscow continues to prevent its office from accessing any places of detention in the occupied territories, including Crimea, preventing a full accounting of cases of arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances, the UN nevertheless emphasizes that its Cabinet has already documented Since the beginning of the February 2022 invasion, there have been at least a hundred cases of civilians killed after being detained by the Russian authorities.
In the territories occupied by the Russian Federation, including Crimea, we documented patterns of attacks by the Russian military against local officials, journalists, civil society activists and other civilians. Among them are numerous Crimean Tatar activists.
“At least 39 of them appear to have been tortured before they died. Torture and other cruel treatment have been widespread in places of detention in the Russian-occupied territories. Many of the torture cases we have documented include sexual violence,” he said. .
Volker Türk further stated that he remains “deeply concerned about possible threats to the security of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the largest nuclear facilities in Europe, which remains occupied by Russian forces”, warning that “the continued use of weapons in the vicinity of the site and fears that poor management of its complex systems could cause catastrophic damage to human rights.
“I urge all States, especially those with influence, to call for immediate and decisive action from both sides – and in particular the Russian Federation – to ensure that their personnel fully comply with international human rights standards and international humanitarian law.” , he declared.
In addition to once again urging Russia to “allow independent and impartial observers access to places of detention and fully respect international humanitarian law applicable in the territory under its occupation,” the UN official also called on Ukraine to align its “Law on Collaborative Activities” with international law and refrain from prosecuting people for collaboration when their cooperation with the occupation authorities falls under international humanitarian law.
The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine caused, according to the most recent UN data, the worst refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian president with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for the security of Russia – was condemned by most of the international community, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and sanctions on Russia. economic.
Source: TSF
