The UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday urged Russia to allow international organizations to visit children and other civilians “forcibly deported” from Ukraine to Moscow-controlled areas.
“Russia must end the forced and illegal transfer and deportation of civilians and other protected persons in the interior of Ukraine. [no Leste] or to the Russian Federation […]in particular children, including those who are institutionalized, unaccompanied and/or separated”reads a resolution adopted in Geneva by 28 votes in favour, 17 abstentions and two against (China and Eritrea).
According to Kiev, 16,221 children had been deported to Russia by the end of February, a number the UN Human Rights Commission could not confirm.
This subject was at the center of debates during the Council’s more than five-week session, with the Ukrainian mission and its allies making numerous statements on the subject.
The text of the resolution urges Russia to authorize representatives and officials of international humanitarian aid and human rights organizations to have “free, immediate, sustainable and safe access” to the places where civilians and children are located.
The resolution also asks Moscow to provide “reliable and complete information on the number and whereabouts” of citizens, to ensure that they are treated “with dignity” and that they are given the conditions to return home “safely”. to turn.
The resolution also calls on Russia to grant “free, immediate and lasting” access to all prisoners of war and other persons “illegally detained”.
The approved text also extends for one year the mandate of the UN commission responsible for investigating human rights violations in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
On March 16, in a report published in Geneva, the Commission concluded that the situations it was investigating regarding the transfer and deportation of children within Ukraine and the Russian Federation, respectively, “contlude international humanitarian law and constitute a war crime”.
The day after the report was published, the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for the war crime of “illegal deportation” of Ukrainian children since the beginning of the invasion.
The Russian military offensive in Ukraine has so far led to the flight of more than 14.6 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced and more than 8.1 million to European countries – according to the latest UN data, which this classifying the refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At the moment, at least 18 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million people need food aid and housing.
The Russian invasion, justified by Putin with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Kiev and by political and economic impose sanctions on Moscow.
The UN presented 8,451 dead civilians and 14,156 wounded as confirmed since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are well below the real ones.
Source: DN
