The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine was created by the
UN Human Rights Council in 2022 to investigate all alleged violations and
abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, and
related crimes in the context of the Russian Federation’s aggression against
Ukraine. In March 2024, the Commission will submit a comprehensive report
on its activities within its second mandate to the Human Rights Council.
The Commission submitted
a preliminary report on October 19, 2023, with documentation, to the UN
General Assembly that Russia has been, and continues to be, responsible for a
number of war crimes. The full report is available here.
These
include:
Indiscriminate attacks which include the wounding or death of
civilians and the destruction of civilians’ property. The Commissioners spoke with some of the
survivors of the attacks and viewed the damage.
Torture of detainees which reaches the level of war
crimes. Detainees have been held and tortured
in Russia and in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. Most prisoners have been men accused of
passing information to Ukraine or supporting Ukrainian forces. Some victims have died from the severity of
the torture.
Rape and other sexual violence. Other acts of violence often inflicted with
the rapes have been severe beatings, strangling, suffocating, slashing,
shooting next to the head of the victim, and willful killing. The majority of these acts have been against civilians.
The deportation
of children to Russia or Russian occupied territories. There have been at
least 31 documented transfers of children out of Ukraine and away from parents and
relatives. Subsequent actions indicate that the Russians
intend for the children to remain in Russia for a prolonged period of time.
The report
also shows evidence of three times Ukrainian forces have been guilty of human
rights violations against people they believe have been in collaboration with
Russia.
The Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights) is the leading UN entity on human rights. They represent the world's commitment to the promotion and
protection of the full range of human rights and freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
