Russia did not attend the special meeting of the UN Human Rights Council which is being held this Thursday in Geneva to discuss the serious humanitarian situation in Ukraine, a product of the Russian military aggression that began on February 24.
(Also read: War in Ukraine already leaves at least eight million internally displaced persons)
Although by decision of the General Assembly Russia is no longer a member of the Council, its delegates can participate as observers and, in the case of this meeting, in which the country was spoken directly, as representatives of the State concerned. However, they did not even show up to the room
In the opening speech of the meeting, Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rightsreiterated that many of the serious violations of International Humanitarian Law that have been verified in Ukraine may constitute war crimes.
He referred, for example, to the summary executions of civilians, forced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, sexual violence as a weapon of war, and the deliberate destruction of civil infrastructure such as hospitals, schools, homes, and temples.
Bachelet warned that the figures for civilians killed or injuredhuman rights violations and the magnitude of damage to infrastructure are much higher than those that your Office has been able to verify, since it does not have access to areas controlled by the Russian army. “We estimate that thousands of civilians have been killed in Mariupol, although only time will tell the true scale of the atrocities, the victims and the damage,” he said.
Investigation of crimes in Ukraine advances
Erik Møse, president of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, indicated that they have not yet been able to speak with Russian delegates: “The Commission has tried to contact the Russian Federation and remains ready to establish communication with it,” he assured.
Møse’s is the first speech before the Human Rights Council of the Commission of Inquiry, created on March 4 by this UN body in order to gather evidence on violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Its three members, independent international experts, are in Geneva this week, where they have met with several States, non-governmental organizations based in Ukraine and Switzerland, representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and its monitoring mission in Ukraine, whose president, Matilda Bogner, was also at the beginning of the week in this Swiss city.
Emine Dzhaparova, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Ministerspeaking from kyiv, warned about possible forced deportations by Russiadenounced atrocities committed against women and children and assured that Moscow has the project to create a “People’s Republic of Kherson” in that Ukrainian town, and that the army would be blackmailing and even executing those who oppose said plan.
“This Council and its members have the duty and the moral responsibility to act,” said the diplomat while asked to strengthen the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry so that he can investigate in depth the events that occurred in towns that were under Russian occupation, such as Bucha, for which he requested the positive vote of the resolution that would decide so.
What does the resolution propose?
In the 78 days of the war, this is the second time that the Councilthe highest body of the UN in the field of human rights, meets urgently to discuss Ukraine. The previous one was barely a week after the beginning of the Russian aggression, when the Council was in full ordinary session and decided to change its agenda to include this situation and create the Commission of Inquiry.
It is hoped that at the end of this meeting, the 47 member states of the Council vote for a resolution in which they mention new issues of concern, such as alleged forced deportations what the Russian army would be committing, the use of propaganda, and the impact that the invasion may have on food security around the world.
(It may interest you: Kherson could ask Vladimir Putin for annexation to Russia, what does it mean?)
In the same way, they will ask the Commission to carry out an investigation “into the events that occurred in the kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions at the end of February and in March 2022, which includes the gender dimension, in order to hold those responsible accountable for their actions”. The Commission is due to present this information to the Council in September.
By virtue of this resolution, Michelle Bachelet will present a report on the humanitarian situation in Mariúpol in June “that includes an evaluation of the nature and causes of the abuses and violations of human rights and the violations of international humanitarian law” committed there.
Carmen Lucia Castano
For the time
Brussels
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