The UN Human Rights Council will decide today whether to launch an investigation into alleged violations by Russian troops in the Kiev region, which Ukraine says are war crimes.
A motion for a resolution tabled by Ukraine and backed by 50 other countries will instruct the newly formed Commission of Inquiry to investigate incidents in the area around Kyiv that have been temporarily occupied by Russian troops.
The committee will prepare a report by the beginning of next year.
“The areas … which were occupied by Russia in late February and March have suffered the most horrific human rights violations on the European continent in recent decades,” Emine Djaparova, Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, told the council.
A spokesman for the Russian mission to the United Nations has not yet commented on the possibility of a war crimes investigation.
Russia denies targeting civilians and calls its actions in Ukraine since February 24 a “special military operation” to disarm the country and eliminate what the Kremlin calls Western-instigated anti-Russian nationalism. Ukraine and the West say Russia has launched an unprovoked offensive war.
Russia’s membership in the 47-member council was suspended last month amid allegations of violations in Ukraine, although Moscow says it has withdrawn. According to UN rules, its representative has the right to speak at today’s meeting but her seat is vacant.
At the same meeting, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said there were many examples of possible war crimes in the country after the Russian invasion, adding that 1,000 bodies had been found so far in the Kiev region.
“The scale of the illegal killings, including indications of summary executions in areas north of Kiev, is staggering,” said Michelle Bachelet.
Dozens of countries have spoken out in favor of the draft resolution, which will also ask Bachelet to brief on the June summit on violations in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
Outside the UN building, protesters raised a huge banner in yellow and blue, the colors of the Ukrainian flag that read: “Save Mariupol, save Azovstal”, the city’s steel industry.
“By working together we must send a strong message to those involved in this brutal war of choice and ensure that there is accountability,” said Michel Taylor, the UN’s ambassador for human rights. Chinese Ambassador Chen Shu protested the council’s “politicization”, saying the resolution could “add fuel to the fire” of tensions around Ukraine.
Source: Capital
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