WFUWO Denounces Russia’s Systematic Use of Forced Disappearances in Ukraine at the UN Human Rights Council

«We thank the Working Group for this report. The World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations is deeply concerned about the more than 2,700 outstanding cases and a backlog of more than 8,000 unreviewed cases that involved the Russian Federation under the Working Group’s mandate.

As confirmed by the UN Commission of Inquiry, within the context of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, forced disappearances are conducted by Russian authorities in a widespread and systematic manner against civilians and these disappearances constitute crimes against humanity.

Currently, in addition to thousands of Ukrainian military prisoners, Russia detains thousands of Ukrainian civilians; many have been detained for years, among them journalists, social and political activists. The accounts of survivors and cases of death in custody, such as the tragic case of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, have revealed the most brutal practices of torture and sexual violence inflicted on both male and female victims.
The practice of forced disappearances and arbitrary detention of civilians, is in grave violation of international law, as is torture, ill treatment, “re-education” and unlawful transfer of Ukrainian civilians into the territory of the Russian Federation, and it must stop. The lack of cooperation by the Russian Federation undermines the Working Group’s mission to assist families in determining the fate of their disappeared family members.

We urge that efforts to ensure communication with the Russian authorities intensify, to ensure visits to occupied territories and places of detention, to obtain information on the whereabouts of those forcibly disappeared, and to secure the immediate release of Ukrainian civilians unlawfully detained.»