War crimes, international security undermined: the Russian invasion of Ukraine dominated the opening of the debates at the UN Human Rights Council and the Conference on Disarmament on Monday.
After the adoption, last week by a very large majority, of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations demanding an “immediate” withdrawal of Russian troops, the UN and the allies of Kiev launched a new salvo on Monday of criticism against Moscow, eager to demonstrate that this war does not only concern Europe.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered the most massive human rights violation we know today,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the opening of the 52nd session. of the Human Rights Council (HRC), which should last almost six weeks.
Denouncing “the senseless invasion of Ukraine by Russia”, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, castigated the return of “destructive wars of aggression, dating from a bygone era and with global consequences”.
“Today it’s Ukraine, but tomorrow it could be another neighboring country”, launched the President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, calling for “not to remain neutral”.
At the Conference on Disarmament – which also kicked off Monday at UN headquarters in Geneva – Britain’s Secretary of State for Europe, Leo Docherty, read out a statement on behalf of more than 30 countries. The Russian invasion “is a threat not only for Ukraine, but also for international peace and security and for the international order”, she underlines.
“Russia is undermining our collective security architecture and challenging our rules-based global order. In short, Russia is trying to impose its view of international relations based on the law of the strongest, minimum of the most aggressive,” said French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.
US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control Bonnie Jenkins has decried Russia’s suspension of its participation in the New Start nuclear disarmament treaty. “Russia is once again showing the world that it is not a responsible nuclear power,” she said, while German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Moscow of undermining “the arms control architecture on which we all depend.
The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, is due to participate in the HRC by videoconference on Thursday, while Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov is expected in Geneva in the coming days.
At the end of the session, at the beginning of April, the 47 member states of the HRC will have to decide on the continuation of the work of the UN investigators on Ukraine, who will present their first written report in the coming weeks after having already reported in September on war crimes.
Russia “inflicts untold suffering on the Ukrainian people. (…) Those responsible for these war crimes and crimes against humanity will have to be held accountable”, underlined the head of French diplomacy before the HRC.
A little later, during a meeting in support of Ukraine on the sidelines of the Council, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba – by videoconference – denounced the abuses committed by Russia.
“The most frightening crime is the theft of children. We are talking about thousands of them,” he said, accusing Moscow of committing a “crime of genocide”, and reiterated Ukraine’s will to put in place a special tribunal to try Russian crimes.
Ukrainian ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko pleaded last week for a “strengthening” of the resolution defining the mandate of the investigators, but kyiv and its allies will still have to convince some hesitant countries to criticize Moscow.
The renewal of the mandate of the Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia will also be the subject of fierce discussions.
27/02/2023 17:43:23 – Geneva (AFP) © 2023 AFP
