United Nations to launch war crime probe against Russia

The United Nations is considering launching an investigation into Russia’s alleged war crimes in Ukraine. The United Nations Human Rights Council will vote on the measure on Thursday.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was launched on February 24, 2022, multiple world leaders linked the assault to possible war crimes. US President Joe Biden and other western leaders tagged Russia’s actions as “genocide” after mass killings in Bucha were reported.

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The proposal to initiate the investigation was proposed by Ukraine in the Human Rights Council. More than 50 countries voted in favour to create a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the discovery of multiple corpses on the outskirts of Kyiv.

The Commission of Inquiry would submit a report to the Human Rights Council by early 2023, according to reports from Reuters.

Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Emine Dzhaparova told the committee that her country had “experienced the most gruesome human rights violations on the European continent in decades”, according to Reuters.

The news comes nearly a month after Russia was suspended from the Human Right Council following a vote initiated by the United States delegation. Even though Russian diplomats were not permitted to be seated, the delegation reserved its right to address the committee.

Representatives from the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights were also present at the meeting. A diplomat said that the “scale of unlawful killings, including indicia of summary executions in areas to the north of Kyiv, is shocking.”

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The human rights body also revealed that more than 1,000 bodies had been discovered in the Kyiv region so far.

Meanwhile, the United Nations and Ukrainian officials have been jointly leading evacuation negotiations with Russia. Thousands have been taken to safety from the city of Mariupol so far, Kyiv said.