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A special session of the UN Human Rights Council met on Thursday in Geneva, prompted by increasing concern over atrocities against civilians, linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
Speakers:
- Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights;
- Victor Madrigal-Borloz, Chair of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures;
- Emine Dzheppar, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine;
- Erik Mose, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine;
+ Vote of the Resolution:
The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed by a majority vote on Thursday 12 May to launch an inquiry into alleged human rights violations committed by Russia in northeastern regions of Ukraine at the beginning of the war in late February and March 2022.
The mission of the independent commission is to investigate and preserve evidence of human rights violations by Russia in Ukraine.
The council also tasked the human rights chief Michelle Bachelet to update its member states on human rights violations committed in Mariupol at its next session in June.
Of the 47-member Geneva-based body, 33 countries voted in support of the resolution, including Japan and the United States. 12 nations abstained, such as India and Pakistan. China and Eritrea voted against.
Russia, which was suspended from the UN council in April following its invasion of Ukraine, did not attend the meeting, although it could have participated in the discussions without being allowed to vote.
In a video message delivered before the vote, Ukraine's first deputy foreign minister, Emine Dzhaparova, said the regions to be investigated "have experienced the most gruesome human rights violations on the European continent in decades."
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