On Tuesday, Volker Turk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that Russia has “utterly failed” to take sufficient measures to protect civilians in Ukraine, and there are “indications that Russian forces have committed war crimes.”
Turk noted that the monitoring conducted by his office points to “serious violations of international human rights law, grave breaches of international humanitarian law, and war crimes primarily committed by the Russian Federation’s forces.”
Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Turk outlined these violations, saying they included “142 cases of summary executions of civilians since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as well as cases of enforced disappearance, torture, and ill-treatment of detainees, including sexual violence.”
Russia strongly denies “committing heinous acts or targeting civilians in Ukraine.”
Turk stated, “The Russian Federation has utterly failed to take adequate measures to protect civilians and civilian objects from the impact of its attacks.” He added, “The armed forces of both parties, and in particular Russia, must adhere to international human rights law and international humanitarian law.”
Furthermore, Turk emphasized the need for both parties to “cease using explosive weapons with wide-area effects in populated areas and to map accurately the locations of mines.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern that the world has seemingly lost interest in the war in Ukraine, saying, “The situation in Ukraine seems to add to a series of ongoing crises, and it appears that the world has lost interest amid the multiple crises we are facing.”
