Uncovering Horror: An Update From the UN Investigation into Russian Human Rights Violations in Ukraine
In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Human Rights Council established the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine through Resolution 49/1. This Commission aims to investigate all reported cases of human rights violations, abuses, breaches of international humanitarian law, and associated crimes stemming from the conflict.
Since the Russian invasion, The International Criminal Court (ICC) has documented over 74,500 instances of human rights violations or abuses in Ukraine. However, prosecuting these cases poses a significant challenge, particularly concerning high-ranking officials. Over its course of existence, the ICC has managed only five convictions for core crimes in over two decades, none of which involved top officials. Additionally, Russia staunchly denies most accusations of human rights attacks. Despite these challenges, a glimmer of hope emerges as war crimes can also be prosecuted within Ukraine's own courts and in numerous other countries conducting independent investigations.
The latest report from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, released on October 20th 2023, draws on data from 32 settlements in 9 regions of Ukraine, with a concentration in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces and Poland. The Commission interviewed 445 individuals, comprising 222 women and 223 men, focusing on inspecting attack sites, places of detention and torture, and scrutinizing documents, photographs, and videos.
The report highlights Russian violations during the hostilities, particularly through the use of explosive weapons in territories under Ukrainian Government control. The Russian armed forces, in several instances, failed to take adequate precautions to avoid civilian casualties, deliberately targeting civilians in populated areas. The attack on a restaurant in Kramatorsk on June 27th 2023, resulted in the tragic death of at least 11 civilians and numerous injuries. Another large-scale strike in Uman city on April 28th 2023, led to the loss of 24 lives and numerous injuries. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) estimates that 8,062 people have been killed in explosive weapons attacks since the war's onset, though the actual number is likely higher.
Furthermore, attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure have had unprecedented negative consequences on the lives of Ukrainians, especially in the provinces of Kyiv and Odesa. These attacks, aimed at disrupting the energy supply, result in prolonged power outages, sometimes lasting up to three days during the winter. The assaults also impact water supply and medical treatment, causing additional challenges. An attack on the breach at Khakovka Dam on June 6, 2023, resulted in water discharge, flooding, and severe repercussions for the basic human rights of the affected population, leading to casualties, injuries, and displacement. The aftermath of explosive weapons attacks and assaults on infrastructure not only impacts civilan’s physical safety, but creates additional psychological harm.
The report also details violations of personal integrity, particularly instances of torture perpetrated by Russian authorities to extract information from their victims. The victims, as aged between 29 and 57 years, faced accusations related to aiding Ukraine, harboring pro-Ukrainian or anti-Russian sentiments, or resisting cooperation with Russian authorities. The methods of torture identified in the report include electric shocks, beatings administered with various objects such as batons, bats, rifle butts, a machine gun, a wooden hammer, and a plastic pipe. Additional forms of abuse involved drowning, sleep deprivation, and the inhalation of unknown substances, albeit the latter being less common. These torturous acts mainly occurred in improvised locations, such as schools or kindergartens, as well as established structures like police and penitentiary centers. In some instances, former detainees reported the existence of rooms specifically designated for interrogation and torture. The report reveals that certain victims experienced prolonged detention periods, with some lasting over 100 days. This revelation underscores the gravity of the human rights abuses inflicted upon individuals based on their perceived affiliations or resistance to Russian authorities.
The report also shed light on the sexual and gender-based violence in the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine, with victims aged 16 to 83 years old, also suffered from additional acts of violence, such as beatings, strangling, suffocating, slashing, or shooting next to the head of the victim. Evidence shows that perpetrators do not fear accountability of their action because some victims testified repeated visits to the houses of the victims, as well as by the multiple threats and violations committed against them and their family members. These sexual violations leave the victims with traumatic experiences and long-term physical and psychological harm.
Finally, another aspect mentioned in the report is the forced deportation of children of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, which is another war crime. The ICC has formally accused Vladimir Putin and Lvova-Belova of committing serious international crimes, and it has issued legal orders for their arrest. The children concerned are mostly those who lost parents or contact with them during hostilities, who were separated following the detention of a parent or children who lived in in institutions. It also appears that 2,000 orphans left without parental care were transferred to the Russia in February 2022, and 380 more between April to October 2002, raising international concerns that Russia seeks to erase Ukrainian identity among the younger generation. The conditions in which the children are kept are also very concerning. Three teenage children who had stayed in such camps in Crimea, reported that some children are placed in a room called “isolator” if they considered that the children misbehaved. Examples of misbehaviour included listening to the Ukrainian anthem and removing a Russian flag. Only a limited of children have returned to Ukraine to rejoin their families.
In conclusion, The ICC’s report on war crime investigations in Ukraine revealed alarming details of Russian violations during the conflict. It documents instances of explosive weapons targeting civilian areas, resulting in tragic deaths and injuries, as well as attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure which caused prolonged power outages, impacting daily life. It also exposes horrific instances of torture by Russian authorities, targeting individuals based on perceived affiliations or resistance. Sexual and gender-based violence, along with forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, are highlighted as additional war crimes. The report insists on the urgent need for international attention to address these atrocities and protect human rights.