UN: There is evidence of crimes against children in Ukraine

Speaking in an interview with the Balkan Radio Service Free Europe on January 23rd, Jasminka Dzhumur, one of the three independent members of the commission, said there was a super-wide “range of crimes uncovered in Ukraine.

When we talk about children, they were injured or killed with firearms. They were sexually abused. We have recorded violations of the rights of children located in the homes of neglected children,” said Dzumhur, adding that the commission has also received information about children who have moved from Ukraine to Russia, even though “in many cases their biological parents still reside in Ukraine.

The European Union and human rights groups have accused Russia of violating human rights in Ukraine's territory, including torture, abuse, rape and other forms of violence, as well as attacks on civil infrastructure and energy sector objects since the Kremlin began its unprotested invasion in February last year.

Moscow has denied the charges despite growing evidence, and has called on international bodies to investigate crimes it says were committed against Russian war prisoners in Ukraine.

Kiev has said it will punish abuses committed by its own forces, but believes the number of such incidents is small.

Dzumhur said the commission has found evidence that <x0-crimes of war, human rights violations and international humanitarian law were carried out on Ukraine's territory, but that the Russian armed forces were responsible for the overwhelming majority of identified violations”.

The UN established the commission consisting of three experts in March 2022.

He is headed by Norwegian Eric Mose, former president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and former judge at the Norwegian Supreme Court. The third member is Colombian Paolo de Greiff, an expert on international justice issues.

Dzumhur said the commission will submit its report in March, when its mandate is completed and that all information presented in it will be the direct result of the commission's work on the ground, with confirmation from other sources”.

However, she noted that the commission, which initially focused on four regions of Ukraine, has not been able to enter some parts of the country.

“We often don't have or have limited access to certain territories, especially when we talk about Donjeck and Luhansk. The commission has not been able to visit and talk with people living there”.

She also said the commission has collected information from other countries as well. / REL