The High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations, Michelle Bachelet, spoke on Wednesday March 30 “war crimescommitted in Ukraine in a long indictment against the actions carried out essentially by the Russian army since the invasion of February 24.
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The indiscriminate and large-scale attacks carried out by the Russian armed forces “could be war crimes“Launched Michelle Bachelet before the Human Rights Council. She used the conditional by convention, war crimes must be proven in court. The former president of Chile has left no doubt that she believes Russia is the main culprit even though she has not fully cleared Ukrainian forces.
Michelle Bachelet notably recalled that the Russian armed forces attacked and bombed many cities in Ukraine and she also detailed the attacks on health infrastructure. “The massive destruction of civilian objects and the high number of civilian casualties strongly indicates that the fundamental principles of distinction (between military targets and civilians, editor’s note), proportionality and precaution have not been sufficiently applied.“, did she say. “The terror and agony experienced by the Ukrainian people is felt around the world. He wants the war to end, to return to peace, security and human dignity. And it’s high time their call was heard“, she added, calling Moscow “to act immediately to withdraw its troops from Ukrainian territory“.
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Michelle Bachelet expressed concern about the use of high-powered, long-range weapons in populated areas, which cause “massive damage to civilian objects“. She pointed out that her services had “credible allegations that Russian armed forces have used cluster munitions in populated areas at least 24 times“. Its services are investigating to verify whether the Ukrainian army has also used this type of weapon. Neither Moscow nor kyiv adhere to the convention which prohibits the use of these weapons considered particularly deadly and dangerous for civilians because very often they do not explode immediately and become mines.
“Immeasurable suffering”
Michelle Bachelet also drew up a detailed table of attacks against health structures. Some 77 were damaged, including 50 hospitals and about ten of these structures were totally destroyed. But she believes the actual number “is probably considerably higher“. This is also the case for the number of civilians killed, of which the High Commission has kept a precise and dismal count since February 24. According to these figures, as of March 29, 1,189 civilians, including 98 children, have died in Ukraine.
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An assessment much lower than the reality, its teams not having direct access to the most exposed places such as Mariupol (south-eastern Ukraine), where the High Commission recently spotted, thanks to satellite images, the presence of mass graves. The Ukrainian authorities evoke 5,000 to 10,000 dead in this port alone, besieged for weeks.
“Civilians are suffering immeasurably and the humanitarian crisis is critical“, insisted Ms. Bachelet, stressing that populations often lack basic necessities. “But above all, they need the bombs to stop falling and the guns to be silent“, pleaded the high commissioner. In the besieged cities, mortality particularly increased beyond the direct victims of weapons. “This can be attributed to the disruption of medical care as well as the deprivation and stress created by the conflict.“, insists Ms. Bachelet.