In the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia, children are said to have disappeared from homes. The investigative commission of the UN Human Rights Council received information on this during its visit to Ukraine, as it reported in Kyiv on Wednesday. Commissioner Jasminka Džumhurin said they had heard that these children would be granted Russian citizenship and adoption processes would be launched.
According to Džumhurin, the commission could not examine the reports themselves at first because they could not travel to the occupied territories. However, one must investigate reports “according to which children who were accommodated in facilities in the temporarily occupied areas were brought to Russia”. How many children are involved, Džumhurin could not say. She spoke of a “significant number”.
Since June 7, the three-member commission has received information that could indicate war crimes or crimes against humanity on their trip, said commission chairman Erik Møse. Among other things, he referred to visits to Bucha and Irpin, where people reported to the commission about indiscriminate killings of civilians, looting and attacks on civilian infrastructure, including schools.
The Commission plans further trips to Ukraine. She is talking to experts from the International Criminal Court, for example, which is also investigating possible war crimes. It must be avoided that victims are traumatized again by repeated questioning. The Commission has so far tried in vain to contact Russia via the embassy in Geneva, said Møse.
The UN Human Rights Council in Geneva appointed the commission in March. Commissioner Pablo de Greiff stressed that all crimes would be investigated, regardless of who committed them. The Commission plans to report to the Council for the first time in September.
Source: Nachrichten
