The suffering being experienced by millions of civilians across Ukraine must not become the new normal, the UN human rights chief said on Wednesday.
Speaking in the capital, Kyiv, after an official four-day visit to the country, Volker Türk said that the scale of the damage and destruction that he had seen in Izium was “shocking”.
In Bucha, north of Kyiv, where scenes showing civilians lying dead in the street sparked international outrage soon after the departure from the area of Russian forces in March, Mr. Turk said that people’s trauma “remains palpable”.
‘Very worrying’ future
He added that he feared for all those caught up in the “long, bleak winter ahead”, while also confirming that the consequences of the war on human rights in Ukraine had been devastating.
“The prognosis is very worrying,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said, adding that his Office has continued to receive information about war crimes “each day”.
“Information continues to emerge about summary executions, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and sexual violence against women, girls and men,” he noted.
The High Commissioner’s visit coincides with the release of a new report into the killings of civilians by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
‘Wilful’ killings
The report is expected to document the fate of 441 civilians in parts of three northern regions – Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy – that were under Russian control until early April.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine is also working to corroborate allegations of additional killings in these regions, and in parts of Kharkiv and Kherson regions that were recently retaken by Ukrainian forces, Mr. Türk said.
Some were killed “cutting firewood or buying groceries”, the UN rights chief noted, adding that there were “strong indications that the summary executions documented in the report, constitute the war crime of willful killing”.
On the issue of prisoners of war, the UN rights chief insisted that they must be treated humanely “at all times”. International law allows for their prosecution only if they are suspected of war crimes, he continued.
UN Human Rights High Commissioner, Volker Türk, visits Bucha in Ukraine.
Dire needs are growing
As a direct result of the Russian invasion on 24 February, 17.7 million people now need humanitarian assistance and 9.3 million require food and livelihood assistance, Mr. Türk said.
He added that a third of the population has been forced to flee their homes, 7.9 million have left the country – the majority, women and children – and 6.5 million people are internally displaced.
From 24 February to 4 December 2022, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, has recorded 17,181 confirmed civilian casualties in Ukraine: 6,702 killed and 10,479 injured.
“Let me stress that the most effective way to stop the running catalogue of cruelty from continuing is to bring an end to this senseless war – in line with the UN Charter and international law,” the High Commissioner insisted. “My most fervent wish is for all people in Ukraine to enjoy the right to peace.”
