A hospital nurse pushes a wheelchair carrying a woman injured in the Russian rocket attack at a shopping center in Kremenchuk, Ukraine, on June 28. (Efrem Lukatsky / AP)
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Wednesday released an alarming report on the human rights situation in Ukraine in the context of the ongoing Russian invasion.
The UN has documented 10,000 civilian casualties since the conflict began on February 24, “among them, 4,731 people were killed,” Matilda Bogner, head of the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, told reporters in Kyiv while presenting the conclusions of the report.
He warned that the number of casualties is “considerably higher”, as the report only highlights the figures that the mission was able to independently verify.
“The Russian Federation’s armed attack on Ukraine has had a devastating impact on human rights throughout the country. We have documented violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including war crimes. manifest the great toll the conflict has day after day, ”Bogner said.
The report is based on information gathered during 11 field visits, three visits to places of detention and 517 interviews with victims and witnesses between February 24 and May 15, 2022. The evidence is also based on court documents, official records and open sources.
The report documents violations of international human rights and humanitarian law “to varying degrees, by both parties,” according to Bogner.
“The high number of civilian casualties and the extent of the destruction and damage to civilian infrastructure raised major concerns that the attacks by the Russian Armed Forces did not comply with international humanitarian law. Although on a much smaller scale , it also appears that the Ukrainian armed forces did not comply with international humanitarian law in the eastern parts of the country, “Bogner added.
The report also raised “serious concerns” about allegations of torture of prisoners of war by both sides in the conflict, including the testimonies of 44 prisoners of war interviewed by the UN mission.
Bogner stressed that the mission found evidence of the widespread use of extrajudicial punishments against alleged looters, thieves and curfew violators in Ukraine.
“The OHCHR has documented and verified allegations of unlawful killings, including summary executions of civilians in more than 30 settlements in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions, committed while these territories were under the control of the Only in Bucha (Kyiv region), the OACDH documented the illegal killings, including summary executions, of at least 50 civilians, “the report said, adding that the scale of the problem “not fully evaluated yet”.
The UN document also set out “concern over arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance” of representatives of local authorities, journalists, civil society activists and other civilians by Russian troops and affiliated armed groups.
OHCHR documented 248 cases of arbitrary detention, six of which resulted in deaths.
The OACDH report includes “reasonable grounds to believe” that Russian and Ukrainian armed forces have been using weapons equipped with cluster munitions, including Tochka-U missiles that resulted in civilian casualties. The use of these weapons in populated areas contradicts international law.
To conclude the report, OHCHR recommended that all parties to the conflict “respect and ensure respect at all times and in all circumstances” for international humanitarian law and human rights law. The report also urged Russia to “immediately cease the armed attack” and fulfill its obligations under international law.
The Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine maintains its presence in Donetsk, Dnipro, Odessa and Uzhhorod.