About 36 people were killed in Ukraine every day in the month to mid-August, according to a UN agency report released late last week.
The report from the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights covers the period between 16th July and 17th August and documents a “wide array” of serious human rights abuses which it says were primarily committed by armed groups which has controlled parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine since mid-April.
The report, which also documents abuses by Ukrainian Government forces, says civilians fleeing fighting have been targeted. It says supposedly “safe” corridors established by Ukrainian forces to allow residents to flee the fighting actually went through areas where the conflict was ongoing with the result that civilians using them were injured or killed.
“Deliberate targeting of civilians is a violation of international law, and more must be done to protect them…” said Navi Pillay, UH High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Meanwhile, while more than half of the population of the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk have left, the report says other people – in particular children – have been prevented from leaving by armed groups.
It also documents other abuses committed by armed groups, including physical and psychological torture and the ill-treatment of detainees, many of whom have been subjected to forced labour. There have also been reported abuses by Ukrainian territorial and special battalions including arbitrary detentions, “enforced disappearances”, and torture.
Saying there was an “urgent need” to end the fighting before more civilians are killed or injured, Dr Pillay said “justice and accountability must replace the impunity for major human rights violations that have occurred in the past four months”.
“And justice must be applied to all. It is essential that the government takes firm action to prevent reprisals and other forms of unlawful retribution. The application of the rule of law must be meticulous, and in full accord with international standards, if public confidence in state institutions is to be restored.”
UN figures show at least 2,593 people were killed in Ukraine between mid-April and 27th August. As of 20th August, an estimated 190,000 people were displaced from their homes including more than 16,000 who have left the “Autonomous Republic of Crimea” and moved into Ukraine.
