A new UN report has found continued evidence
of war crimes and human rights violations committed by Russian
authorities in Ukraine, including torture, rape and the
deportation of children.
The report by
the Independent International
Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, published on Friday,
follows a study issued in March.
It documents additional
indiscriminate attacks with explosive weapons, resulting in
deaths, injuries and the destruction and damage of civilian
objects.
For example, 24 people, mostly women and children, were killed in
an attack on a multistorey block of residential apartments in
Uman, a city in the Cherkasy region, in April, and part of the
building became uninhabitable. Commissioners spoke with
residents during their recent visit to
the country.
New evidence, same torture pattern
Their investigations also confirmed previous findings that
Russian authorities used torture in a widespread and systematic
way in various types of detention facilities.
New evidence collected in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions
found Russian authorities used the same pattern of torture in
areas under their control, mainly against men suspected of
passing information to the Ukrainian authorities or supporting
the Ukrainian armed forces.
The commissioners said their interviews with victims and
witnesses revealed “a profound disregard towards human dignity by
Russian authorities”. Witnesses reported situations in which
torture had been committed so brutally that the victim died.
Lasting traumatic impacts
Recent investigations in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions
showed that rape and other sexual violence were often committed
together with additional acts of violence, including severe
beatings, strangling, suffocating, slashing, shooting next to the
head of the victim, and wilful killing.
In one instance, a 75-year-old woman who stayed alone to protect
her property, was raped and tortured by a Russian soldier who hit
her on the face, chest, and ribs, and strangled her, while
interrogating her.
The soldier ordered the woman to undress and when she refused, he
ripped off her clothes, cut her abdomen with a small sharp object
and raped her several times. The woman also suffered several
broken ribs and teeth.
Such traumatic experiences have severe and long-term consequences
for the physical and mental health of the victims, the report
said.
Unlawful child deportations
The Commissioners investigated further accounts of Ukrainian
children being transferred to Russia or to Russian-occupied areas
in Ukraine. They concluded that the transfer of 31 children to
Russia in May 2022 was an unlawful deportation, thus a war crime.
Their report also contains three cases where investigations
showed that Ukrainian authorities committed violations of human
rights against persons accused of collaboration with Russia.
They underlined the importance of accountability “with full
respect and care for the rights of the victims.”
The UN Human Rights
Council established the Independent Commission of
Inquiry on Ukraine in March 2022, shortly after the start of the
full-scale Russian invasion. The mandate was extended in April
for an additional year.
The three Commissioners are not UN staff and do not receive
payment for their work.
♦
