The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights affirmed this Friday that, after thirteen months of the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine, serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have become “a scandalous routine”. .
In his speech before the Human Rights CouncilVolker Türk, said that people across the country are facing massive suffering and loss, deprivation, displacement and destruction, while noting the profound effects of this war across the world, even in countries without any involvement. with the conflict.
“The invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation has brought us back to an archaic time. A time when you could attack the territory of a neighboring country and take it, at will, as your own. When it was possible to deny the identity and history of the communities, and rewrite reality. The United Nations Charter was supposed to put an end to that atavistic thinkinghe declared.
More than 8,000 dead and 14,000 injured
Since the start of the invasion, the High Commissioner’s Office staff managed to verify more than 8,400 civilian deaths and more than 14,000 injuries. Most of these victims were caused by the launching of high-impact artillery by the Russian forces in residential neighborhoods.
Among the multiple human rights violations detected, Türk found “numerous summary executions and selective attacks against civilians”, 621 cases of forced disappearances and arbitrary detentions and that most of the 89 freed civilians interviewed were tortured or ill-treated by Russian personnel. The 109 cases of sexual violence by Russian troops occurred in detention centers.
To these violations, he added that an unknown number of Ukrainian civilians were transferred to occupied territory or to the Russian Federation. They included children and adults housed in welfare centers, as well as unaccompanied children living in areas of Ukraine occupied or temporarily controlled by Russian forces.
“These transfers may constitute violations of article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits forced transfers to occupied territory, or deportations to any other country, regardless of their reason,” he stressed.
More than 71 million poor
Türk recalled that the conflict continues to cause indirect impacts around the world, such as rising food, energy, and fertilizer prices, and increasing inequalities in all regions of the planet.
“The most severe global cost of living crisis in a generation is damaging the lives and livelihoods of some 1.6 billion people. It has plunged more than 71 million people into poverty. Threatens the stability of many countries”.
For this reason, he described as “essential” that the Black Sea Grains Initiative, a UN-sponsored agreement to supply food and fertilizer markets amid global shortages and rising prices, continue to support global food security, well beyond its current expiration in May 2023.
“This war defies any reason. We must put an end to this madness and find peace, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law”, concluded the High Commissioner.
Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus
Following the announcement on March 25 in which the Russian Federation agreed to install its non-strategic nuclear weapons on Belarusian territory, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs made the Organization’s position clear today at a session of the Security Council on threats to international peace and security.
“All States must avoid taking actions that could lead to an escalation, a mistake or a miscalculation. All States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT, -Nuclear Weapon States and Non-Nuclear Weapon States alike- they must strictly comply with the commitments and obligations they have assumed under the Treaty.” Izumi Nakamitsu pointed out.
The High Representative recalled that the risk of a nuclear weapon being used “is currently greater than at any time since the deepest moments of the Cold War” and that the lack of dialogue and the degradation of the disarmament and control structure Weapons “are key drivers of this potentially existential risk.”
For this reason, he called on the States to “urgently return” to dialogue, reduce tensions and find a way to apply measures that promote transparency and trust.
Nakamitsu also joined the call of the General secretary for the Russian Federation and the United States to resume full implementation of the New START Treaty, which limits the number of strategic weapons between the two countries, and to begin negotiations on its successor.
