Ukrainian MFA on UN Commission’s report: Russia’s recorded crimes ‘indicate scale of atrocities Europe hasn’t seen since World War II’
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine welcomes the second report of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Violations Committed by Civilian and Military Authorities on the Territory of Ukraine, and calls for continued investigation and "systemic pressure on Russia to put an end to Russian aggression."
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine welcomes the second report of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Violations in Ukraine, the discussion of the conclusions of which will take place on March 19 within the framework of the UN Human Rights Council," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a comment on this report published on its official website on Monday.
As noted in the document, the commission has collected "additional evidence of serious violations and international crimes, in particular war crimes and, potentially, crimes against humanity committed by the Russian authorities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine."
The Foreign Ministry emphasizes the shocking nature of the UN Commission's conclusions: "torture, premeditated murder, rape and other crimes related to sexual violence, illegal imprisonment of civilians, enforced disappearances, illegal deportation of Ukrainian children, attacks and destruction of cultural and historical heritage sites."
"The new evidence confirms the Commission's previous conclusions that the Russian authorities continue to systematically torture both Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war, which amounts to war crimes against Ukrainians in the temporarily occupied territories and in the Russian Federation," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a comment.
The document emphasizes the importance of the fact that "the report assesses the serious consequences of the fighting and the siege of Mariupol for civilians at the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion. The document records a large number of victims and damage to civilian facilities, the destruction of medical facilities, as well as evidence of injured residents of Mariupol."
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Commission's conclusions indicate the need to "continue further investigation, in particular with a view to further qualifying serious international crimes committed by Russia against the Ukrainian people, which should become part of the materials for consideration by international courts and tribunals."
"The Russian side, contrary to the calls of the international community and the provisions of a number of resolutions of the UN General Assembly, as well as despite the regular appeals of the Commission, continues to ignore requests for information and access to international experts in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry emphasizes.
"We call on the international community to continue systemic pressure on Russia to put an end to Russian aggression, atrocities and terror, ensure that Russian criminals are brought to justice, demand the admission of international monitoring organizations and humanitarian missions to illegally detained Ukrainian civilians, the release and exchange of prisoners of war," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a comment.
"The crimes recorded by the UN Commission testify to the scale of atrocities that Europe has not seen since the Second World War. All those responsible for them must be punished. Responsibility for what they have done is what the Russian occupiers fear the most, which means that the task of the entire world community is to make this responsibility inevitable," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine concluded.