The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
STORYLINE
People with disabilities trapped in the Russian control zones in Ukraine are reportedly being used as “human shields” by the Russian Federation armed forces,”, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) warned on Friday.
Issuing its special report on the situation of people with disabilities in Ukraine, Jonas Ruskus, Vice-Chair of the Committee said he was “gravely concerned” about the situation of people with disabilities in the country, which was invaded by Russia on 24 February.
Mr. Ruskus told a news conference in Geneva that they are being kept in “inhuman conditions” and their evacuation from residential institutions in conflict areas is not being prioritised.
The CRPD Vice Chair said the committee had information from several disability organizations in the country that at least 12 people with disabilities had died in a residential institution in territory under Russian control.
He urged both Ukraine and Russia to evacuate them immediately and to ensure that the evacuation process is monitored by independent parties.
“Some people with disabilities in Ukraine remain trapped in life-threatening situations and must be evacuated to ensure they can access basic needs like food and heating as winter approaches,” Mr. Raskus told a news conference in Geneva.
Mr. Ruskus reminded all concerned parties of their obligation to ensure that people with disabilities, including in the current situation in Ukraine, have access to services and relief in the community on an equal basis with others.
He urged for rapid de-institutionalisation and investment in community services and called for disabled people's inclusion in decision-making processes when international cooperation funds are used.
Around 2.7 million people lived with a disability in Ukraine before the conflict started. In August, four UN-appointed independent human rights experts warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is having “a disproportionate impact” on persons with disabilities, especially children in institutions there.
The UN experts expressed hope that investments will be made to build community support that will enable children with disabilities to flourish with their families and in family-like situations as opposed to institutions.
“It is our earnest hope that Ukraine will commit itself to a better future for persons with disabilities, especially children,” the experts said.
The CRPD findings were issued on Friday alongside its country reviews on Bangladesh, China*, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Lao People’s Democratic Republic**, New Zealand and Singapore. The report contains the Committee's main concerns and recommendations on implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
ENDS
STORY: Rights of Disabled Persons in Ukraine, CRPD
TRT: 03:38”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 09 September 2022, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST - SOUNDBITES TO COME
1. Exterior wide shot, United Nations flag flying.
2. Wide shot, press briefing.
3. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Jonas Ruskus, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
“ Committee was gravely concerned that people with disabilities were reportedly trapped in the conflict zones and that the evacuation of the residential key institutions in conflict areas was not prioritised.”
4. Mid-shot, attendee typing.
5. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Jonas Ruskus, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
“ Some progress has been made in the country but now, within the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine, that issue of institutionalization became more serious and especially for people with intellectual, psycho-social disabilities including children. ”
6. Mid-shot of attendees at briefing.
7. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Jonas Ruskus, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
“We know well that in emergency situations, as is in Ukraine, institution, become really, the place is dangerous for people with disabilities, particularly for children so we addressed all involved parties and involved organizations in humanitarian aid too, to redirect all allocation, its whole effort to the development of community-based services.”
8. Mid shot of panel.
9. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Jonas Ruskus, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
“We did hear that persons with disabilities have been denied evacuation and access to basic services and we have been informed about one case in one institution that people with disabilities have been denied evacuation and that resulted in the death of at least 12 persons with disabilities placed in institutions.”
10. Wide cameras and computer screens.
11. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Jonas Ruskus, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
“ We received information that people with disabilities, in institutions in territories under the control of the Russian Federation they are being kept in inhuman conditions subjected to ill-treatment and used as human shields by Russian Federation ”
12. Mid-shot of attendees.
13. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Jonas Ruskus, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
“The committee urges Ukraine and Russian Federation to immediately evacuate people with disabilities who remain in residential institutions under Ukraine territory, under respective control and to ensure the evacuation process is monitored by independent parties.”
13. Mid-shot of attendees.
14. SOUNDBITE: (ENGLISH) Jonas Ruskus, Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
"The committee was concerned about reports that people with disabilities who remain in residential institutions are at severe risk and the access to basic rights such as food and acceptable standards of living, including access to heating in the upcoming winter months are jeopardized. The committee reminded all concerned parties of the obligations to ensure people with disabilities, including in the current situation, have access to services and relief in the communities on an equal basis with others. They are not institutionalized and are meaningfully included in decision-making processes when International cooperation funds are used."
15. Close shot of reporter typing.
16. Mid-shot of attendees at briefing.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
The past two months of intensifying Israeli bombardment in Lebanon have been the “deadliest and most devastating” in decades as communities uprooted from the front line have continued to flee across the border to Syria, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , WHO , UNHCR , IFRC , ILO , UNCTAD
Alessandra Vellucci of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired the hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Health Organization, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Trade and Development.
2
1
3
Edited News | UNOG
“State of Silence”: Diego Luna brings the fight to protect the press to the UN in Geneva
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna has brought his fight to protect journalists all the way to the United Nations, in Geneva. Together with documentary director Santiago Masa, he is putting a spotlight on the silencing of investigative journalism in his country, and on the incredibly high price that many journalist have to pay in pursuit of truth.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“Today marks the grim milestone of 1,000 days since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale armed attack on Ukraine. Our Office has verified that at least 12,162 civilians have been killed since 24 February 2022, among them 659 children. At least another 26,919 civilians have been injured,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance told the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
With COP29 in Baku now in its second - and final - week, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has reiterated his call for urgent human rights-based climate action.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL , UNICEF , WHO
Lebanon: Increased violence along Blue Line and ‘horrific new normal’ for children
In southern Lebanon, peacekeepers have witnessed “shocking” destruction of villages along the Blue Line and ever-deeper Israeli ground incursions, while the situation of children across the country is becoming increasingly desperate, the UN said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | ITU , OSE , UNIFIL , UNICEF , OHCHR , WHO , FAO
Rolando Gómez of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva, chaired hybrid briefing, attended by spokespersons and representatives of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agricultural Organization, and the International Telecommunication Union.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, confirmed on Monday that a large convoy of humanitarian aid was looted inside Gaza at the weekend, amid a near-total a breakdown in law and order and harassment of the agency’s staff by Israeli soldiers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
In the nearly 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, thousands of civilians have been killed, the country’s energy infrastructure is on the brink and drones terrify communities on the front line, the UN’s top aid official in the country said on Friday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OCHA , WHO
UN Geneva briefing: Ukraine's humanitarian crisis deepens, with 12,000 dead and 3.6M displaced.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Mexican actor, producer and director Diego Luna took a break from the big screen on Thursday to highlight the dangers faced by journalists in his country and beyond, condemning murders of reporters everywhere as “a scandal”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: ‘People are losing hope’ as aid access is refused to north, warns UNRWA
Besieged northern Gaza is a place of dead bodies lying in the streets and hospitals running out of blood packs – a situation that’s “nothing short of catastrophic”, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.