GENEVA: A team of experts commissioned by the UN鈥檚 top human rights body to look into rights violations in Ukraine said Friday its initial investigation turned up evidence of war crimes in the country following Russia鈥檚 invasion nearly seven months ago.
The experts from the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, mandated by Human Rights Council earlier this year, have so far focused on four regions 鈥� Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy.
Presenting their most extensive findings so far, they cited testimonies by former detainees of beatings, electric shocks and forced nudity in Russian detention facilities, and expressed grave concerns about executions in the four regions.
鈥淲e were struck by the large number of executions in the areas that we visited. The commission is currently investigating such deaths in 16 towns and settlements,鈥� Erik Mose, the commission chairman, told the council. He didn鈥檛 specify who or which side in the war allegedly committed the killings.
Mose said his team had received and was documenting 鈥渃redible allegations regarding many more cases of executions.鈥� During a 10-day June trip to Ukraine, the team visited Bucha, a city outside Kyiv where Ukrainian authorities found mass graves and bodies strewn in the streets after Russian forces pulled out in late March.
The findings echo reports by news outlets and others of the destruction, death and despair in Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion on Feb. 24.
The commission鈥檚 work could ultimately contribute to the work of International Criminal Court prosecutors who could bring charges over war crimes in Ukraine, although it remains uncertain whether Russia or other alleged perpetrators will ever face justice.
Anton Korynevych, ambassador-at-large for Ukraine鈥檚 Foreign Ministry, joined envoys from a number of Western countries who spoke out against Moscow鈥檚 war in the wake of the commission鈥檚 presentation. Russia鈥檚 delegation boycotted the council meeting.
Korynevych, speaking by video, called for the creation of a special tribunal that would have jurisdiction 鈥渙ver the crime of aggression against Ukraine鈥� and investigate senior Russian political and military leaders who were allegedly responsible.
He said accountability was crucial for rights violations and atrocities linked to Russia鈥檚 鈥渁ggression鈥� but also highlighted how the effects of the war has 鈥榬ippled through the world and 鈥減ut numerous countries on the verge of hunger, exacerbated extreme poverty, created the threat of nuclear catastrophe unseen before鈥� and harmed the livelihoods of millions worldwide.
Investigators for the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine visited 27 towns and settlements, as well as graves and detention and torture centers; interviewed more than 150 victims and witnesses; and met with advocacy groups and government officials, Mose said.
鈥淏ased on the evidence gathered by the commission, it has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine,鈥� he said.
He said the team had examined two incidents of ill-treatment against Russian soldiers by Ukrainian forces.
Mose said an unspecified number of Russian soldiers were found to have committed crimes of sexual or gender-based violence 鈥� with victims ranging in age from 4 to 82 years old.
The commission plans to gradually expand its investigation, with areas of interest including allegations of filtration camps for people being detained or deported, the forced transfer of people, and allegations of expedited adoption of children.
鈥淭he evidence of Russia鈥檚 atrocities becomes more horrifying by the day, most recently with the uncovering of mass graves in Izium, where the bodies show signs of torture,鈥� Michele Taylor, the US ambassador to the Human Rights Council, said, referring to a Kharkiv region city that Ukrainian forces recaptured in recent weeks.
Taylor urged the commissioners to continue to 鈥渆xamine the growing evidence of Russia鈥檚 filtration operations, forced deportations and disappearances.鈥�
She referred to 鈥渘umerous sources鈥� that indicated Russian authorities have interrogated, detained and/or forcibly deported between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens, and reports that children were being deported from Ukraine and placed in Russian orphanages for adoption.
Added German ambassador Katharina Stasch: 鈥淢ake no mistake, we will hold those who are responsible for these crimes accountable.鈥�