Russia is allegedly condemned by the UN Human Rights Council for its human rights abuses during its ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Now, it is decided to set up a commission to investigate the scenario, including possible war crimes.
Ukrainian ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko, while expressing his views, said that the message to the Russian President Vladimir Putin was clear that he is isolated on a global level and the whole world is against him.
During the voting, thirty-two of the council’s 47 members voted to establish the highest-level probe possible in a bid to hold the intruders accountable. Only Russia itself and Eritrea voted against, whereas 13 countries abstained including Moscow’s traditional backers China, Venezuela and Cuba. It is true that the Geneva-based council cannot make legally binding decisions but its decision deliver important political messages that it has the authority to initiate investigations.
Filipenko also told the council that there are irrefutable evidence of gross and systematic human rights violations as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity by Russia. Russia, which has called its actions since February 24 a special operation has denied targeting civilians in Ukraine. Its delegate, Evgeny Ustinov, told the council that the resolution’s backers will use every means to blame Russia for the events in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the move by the UN body, and stated that evidence will be documented and used in international courts.
The US, which just rejoined the body as a voting member after quitting under former President Donald Trump, called the outcome a powerful condemnation of Russia’s actions.
A commission, set up for an initial period of one year and tasked to produce a report by early 2023, will work alongside a large, existing UN rights team for Ukraine which has 60 members. The exact focus of the commission is to look at the root causes of the conflict.
Some rights groups had also called for suspending Russia. However, this can only be decided by the UN General Assembly in New York. The International Criminal Court has already started investigating possible war crimes in Ukraine, where hundreds of civilians have been killed and more than 1.2 million have fled.
