Dr. Kateryna Bondar Calls for Accountability on Russia’s War Crimes Against Ukrainian Civilians and Prisoners at UN Human Rights Council
July 12, 2024
Oral statement delivered by Dr Kateryna Bondar on behalf of WFUWO at the UN during the interactive dialogue on Ukraine with the High Commissioner for Human Rights Dr Volker Türk at the UN Human Rights Council on 10 July 2024.
«This Council must condemn Russia’s regular massive missile attacks directed at Ukrainian cities and critical civilian infrastructure, including the calculated brutal attack on the largest Children’s Hospital in Kyiv, where seriously ill children were receiving life-saving treatment. Russia must be held accountable for these barbaric war crimes against Ukrainin children, women, doctors and other civilians.
We urge a review of the allegations and hard evidence pointing to the fact that Russian troops are summarily executing Ukrainian soldiers in the event of surrender.
We also urge a focus on the conditions in which thousands of Ukrainian defenders and civilians in Russian captivity are kept. They are known to suffer severe beatings, bullying and hunger. Prisoners lose a third or half of their weight, weaken without medical care, and often die in captivity, indications that torture and inhuman treatment is a regular practice in the places of detention. Anxiety for the fate of captives is made worse by the fact that for more than two years information about the health and whereabouts of captives has been withheld by Russia from the International Red Cross and from the families of the prisoners. This is psychological torture and manipulation of the families, who are morally and physically suffering.
Prisoners have serious illnesses and require medical care. For the sake of human dignity and human rights, we call on this Council to advocate for solutions such as transfers to a third country where Ukrainian prisoners can access medical care and benefit from the possibility of a prisoner exchange agreement.»