The UN approved today that launch investigations into possible human rights violations by Russia during its invasion of Ukraine through a commission of experts, the first that the Human Rights Council approves for Europe and against a permanent member of the Security Council.
The historic decision was made in a vote where Russia suffered a new diplomatic defeatsince of the 47 member countries of the Council only she and Eritrea voted against of the resolution with which this commission was created, and even countries such as Venezuela, Cuba or China abstained.
“The message to Vladimir Putin has been clear: you are isolated at the global level and the world is against you,” the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Eugenia Filipenko, told reporters after the resolution was approved.
The commission’s experts will be appointed by the president of the Human Rights Council (currently the Argentine ambassador Federico Villegas) and their mission is to collect possible evidence of human rights violations in the current invasion, which According to Ukraine, they constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The goal is to obtain evidence as soon as possible that could serve to bring the perpetrators to justice, at a time when the The International Criminal Court in The Hague has also opened investigations into the war in Ukraine.
“We hope that the commission will be established as soon as possible given the urgency of the situation, as it could be an important complement to the work of the International Criminal Court with clear and reliable information, something that is also important to combat disinformation campaigns,” highlighted the ambassador.
Russia will let Ukraine decide its future
Russia does not intend to occupy Ukraine and its troops will withdraw once they have fulfilled their objective in the country, where the people will be able to decide on their future, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, assured today.
“Our goal is the denazification of the regime and the demilitarization of Ukraine so that we have guarantees that there will be no threats coming from Ukraine against Russia,” he told a news conference with international correspondents accredited to the UN.
“We are not going to occupy Ukraine and it will be the Ukrainian people who decide on their political future,” said the diplomat.
Never before in Europe
The UN Human Rights Council previously approved the creation of investigation commissions in crises and conflicts such as those in Burma (Myanmar), Ethiopia, Sudan, Libya, Syria or Venezuela, but never to analyze possible violations of human rights on the ground. European.
Previous debates had been held in the Council to analyze the situation in Ukraine, in which the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, intervened through oral reports focused on the situation in Donbas, but the creation of a commission supposes a deeper study and with more consequences in a conflict.
According to the European Union, which from the beginning supported the Ukrainian request to create this commission, the today it is a “historic vote” in the face of a war “in which there is only one aggressor, Russia”, for which its authorities “must be held accountable for their actions”.
The United States, which also supported the commission, stressed that Russia must answer to the Council for human rights violations such as the bombing of residential areas, kindergartens or schools.
Bachelet also pointed to Russia on Thursday for possible violations that the commission must now investigate, such as including civilian targets in its attacks with heavy artillery or causing an exodus of two million people between refugees and displaced people.
Before the vote, the Russian ambassador in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, reiterated his country’s rejection of the creation of this investigative commission, assuring that “it is a waste of resources that could be used for humanitarian purposes.”
“But that does not worry the authors of the text, since it is only about blaming everything that happens in Ukraine on Russia,” said the ambassador, reiterating the Russian position that before the invasion the Russian-speaking population in regions such as the Dombas suffered persecution.
Commission results in a few months
The three experts from the commission will report on the first results of their investigations at the 51st session of this body, scheduled for the last third of this year.
To reach conclusions, they will be based on interviews, testimonies of victims, forensic materials and others, according to the text of the approved resolution, which also condemned the invasion of Ukraine and called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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