Some Russian abuses in Ukraine may be crimes against humanity, UN inquiry finds
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A resident salvages a pair of shoes from the wreckage of an apartment building following a Russian attack, in Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, on March 14, 2023.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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GENEVA - Russia has committed wide-ranging war crimes in Ukraine, such as wilful killings and torture, a United Nations-mandated investigative body said on Thursday, in some cases making children watch loved ones being raped
The alleged crimes, including the deportation of children, were detailed in a report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, which said some acts may amount to crimes against humanity.
At her weekly press briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova said that Moscow regularly heard accusations like these.
She added that if those behind such reports supported objectivity, “then we are ready to analyse specific cases, answer questions, provide data, statistics and facts. But if they are biased, if they represent only one point of view... then there is no use responding to these reports”.
Russia denies committing atrocities or attacking civilians in Ukraine.
Based on more than 500 interviews as well as satellite images and visits to detention sites and graves, the report comes as the International Criminal Court in The Hague is expected to seek the arrest of Russian officials
The report said Russian forces carried out “indiscriminate and disproportionate” attacks on Ukraine and called for the perpetrators to be held accountable.
“The ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine has had devastating effects at various levels,” Mr Erik Mose, chair of the commission, told a press briefing.
“Human losses and the general disregard for the life of civilians... are shocking.”
The report said at least 13 waves of Russian attacks since October on Ukraine’s energy-related infrastructure, as well as the use of torture “may amount to crimes against humanity”.
It found that some 16,000 children have been unlawfully transferred and deported from Ukraine, citing a Ukraine government figure.
Russia denies the charge, saying it has evacuated people voluntarily from Ukraine.
Other children were forced to watch their loved ones being raped or, in one instance, were detained in a school basement alongside the bodies of the deceased, the report said.
Victims in Russian detention facilities were subject to electric shocks with a military phone – a treatment known as a “call to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin” – or hung from the ceiling in a “parrot position”, the report said.
Genocide?
The commission’s 18-page report will be presented to the Geneva Human Rights Council on Monday.
The council, the only body made up of governments to protect human rights worldwide, aims to extend and deepen the commission’s mandate.
Sometimes, the council’s probes lead to prosecutions in international courts.
The commission said it is working on a list of possible perpetrators that would be passed on to UN authorities.
Asked whether Russia’s acts might amount to genocide, as Ukraine believes, Mr Mose said it had not yet found such evidence but would continue to follow up.
Ukraine, which has called for the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute Russia’s political and military leadership with aggression over the invasion, has said the commission was essential to ensure Russia would be held accountable.
The commission found reasonable grounds to conclude that the Ukraine invasion qualifies as an act of aggression.
The report also found that Ukraine forces had committed a “small number of violations”, including what appeared to be indiscriminate attacks and torture of prisoners of war.
The Ukrainian presidency was not immediately available for comment. REUTERS
