Russian attacks on civilians Ukraineincluding systematic torture and killing in occupied territories, war crimes reports of possible crimes against humanity. united nations– Backed up research.
A comprehensive human rights report released a year after a Russian airstrike on a theater in Mariupol killed hundreds of people sheltering indoors shows a highly unusual condemnation of members of the UN Security Council. rice field.
Among potential crimes against humanity, the report noted repeated attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure that left hundreds of thousands of people without access to heating and electricity during the coldest months of the year; It cites “systematic and widespread” torture in several occupied territories.
Based on more than 500 interviews, satellite images, and visits to camps and cemeteries, the report, citing Ukrainian government figures, estimated that around 16,000 children were illegally transferred and deported from Ukraine. I discovered that Russia He denies the charges, saying he voluntarily evacuated people from Ukraine.
The investigation included deported Ukrainian children who were prevented from reuniting with their families, a “filtering” system aimed at screening Ukrainians for detention, and torture and inhumane detention conditions. also found crimes committed against Ukrainians on Russian territory.
Some children were reportedly forced to watch loved ones raped or held with corpses in school basements. I was shocked. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he said.
“There were elements about the planning and the availability of resources that indicated that the Russian authorities may have committed torture as a crime against humanity,” said the former Norwegian Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights judge who led the investigation. As one Eric Moses said:
Commissions of inquiry are the most powerful tool used by the UN-backed Human Rights Council to scrutinize abuses and violations around the world. The inquiry, released Thursday, was set during urgent debates in the immediate aftermath of last year’s Russian invasion.
Three members of the Commission are independent human rights experts, and its staff receives support and funding from the Council and the United Nations Office for Human Rights.
The report’s authors noted a “small number” of apparent violations by the Ukrainian military, including those under criminal investigation by Ukrainian authorities. The Ukrainian president was not immediately available for comment.
But investigators withheld most of the report because of allegations against Russia. At a weekly press conference, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Moscow regularly hears such accusations.
She said that if the people behind such reports were upholding objectivity, they would be “ready to analyze specific cases, answer questions, and provide data, statistics, and facts.” You are not required to respond to the report of
Russia denies atrocities and attacks on civilians in Ukraine.
Most of the human rights abuses highlighted by the investigation are already well-known, and the report is not the first to accuse Russia of war crimes. The findings, however, come with the recognition of the international community. The experts operate under an overwhelming mandate created last year by the Human Rights Council, which brings together the governments of 47 UN member states.
Moses, who chaired an international tribunal set up to prosecute genocide cases in the 1994 massacre of the Tutsi minority in Rwanda, said investigators had found individuals responsible for human rights abuses in Ukraine. He said he made a list of
He said the list would “be submitted to the relevant authorities on the matter,” but the team acknowledged the difficulty of an investigation involving permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Ultimately, this report could add to efforts to strengthen accountability for crimes committed during war — whether by the International Criminal Court or wherever the atrocities occurred. Whether by some individual countries that have adopted the right to apply “universal jurisdiction” to prosecute conduct..
Reuters contributed to this report
