Seven months after Russia’s conflict with Ukraine began, UN-appointed independent human rights investigators said that war crimes had been committed.
The findings came in the first update by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine to the Human Rights Council at its 51st session on 23 September 2022.
Commission chairperson Erik Møse said at a press conference that day that his investigators had visited 27 towns and settlements and interviewed more than 150 victims and witnesses. They also inspected “sites of destruction, graves, places of detention and torture”, as well as remnants of weapons.
Horrific allegations of sexual violence against Ukrainian communities - including children - were also found to be based in fact.
“The Commission investigated cases of sexual gender-based violence. It documented cases in which some Russian Federation soldiers made such crime,” said Commissioner Jasminka Džumhur.
Ukrainian forces were also responsible for human rights violations, said Commissioner Pablo de Greiff: “We have found two instances of ill-treatment of Russian Federation soldiers by Ukrainian soldiers, and we mentioned this in our statement. We have found obviously significantly larger numbers of instances that amount to war crimes on the part of the Russian Federation.”
