The “Report on the Human Rights Situation in Ukraine” published on December 31, 2024 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), analyses the state of human rights in Ukraine during the ongoing conflict, covering the developments between 1 September and 30 November 2024. OHCHR is focused on the protection of human rights and freedom as declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and advocates for raising awareness of violations of those rights.
The report looks at the consequences of the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. Those consequences are severe especially because most of them affect civilians and not the regular army. In fact, the OHCHR declares that since the invasion 40,838 civilians are the civilians that died for direct and indirect causes, until December 31, 2024. The Institute for National Strategic Studies reports that the invasion of Ukraine followed the speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21, 2022, in which he questioned the legitimacy of Ukrainian identity and its statehood, affirming that this identity has been modified by the West as part of an “anti-Russia project”, and not only as a way to prevent Ukraine to enter NATO.
Methodology
The report is based on the data collected by. The report is based on data collected by the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), which has been documenting the human rights impact of the ongoing conflict since the invasion of Crimea in 2014. The operation amassed all the information used through 72 field visits, 13 visits to detention facilities, 17 visits to care institutions, 6 trials hearings, and 802 interviews with victims, witnesses, lawyers, government officials, and civil society members, as well as incorporating court documents, official records, and open-source material. However, due to the limitations imposed by the Russian Federation on the independent operations of these agencies, the process of verifying the reported violations in the occupied territories of Ukraine has been hindered or delayed. This has been compounded by challenges such as the logistical difficulties involved in travelling to and from the occupied territories, and the reluctance of individuals to share their experiences via telephone for fear of being overheard.
Key findings
The report shows that September 2024 was the deadliest month since July 2022, with 98% of casualties being civilians: 555 killed and 3,022 injured. The majority of these casualties were attributed to the use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas, with the remainder attributed to incidents involving mines and explosive remnants of war. 72% of these casualties occurred close to the front line. Most of them are in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions. As a result, civilians live in constant fear aggravated by Russia's almost daily rocket attacks, which reached almost 2,000 rockets launched each month in October and November. The air strikes also hit humanitarian aid workers, as happened on 6 October 2024 when a convoy evacuating civilians in Donetsk was hit, killing one of the volunteers. The International Committee of the Red Cross trucks were also hit on 12 September while delivering aid in the region. Those Russian attacks are also destroying energy infrastructure and dependent services such as water, heating and transport in several regions, leaving some communities in the east unable to fully open central heating. For example, in one of them the central heating was so damaged that 13,000 residents were left without heating until 5 November.
The situation of prisoners of war (POWs) is even worse, as they are held in severely overcrowded cells with poor sanitary conditions, including no access to water. 32 of the ones interviewed, 22 men and 10 women, reported being subjected to sexual violence, including rape, electric shocks and blows to the genitals, and forced nudity. Sexual violence is also perpetrated by the Russian armed forces and other authorities. 370 cases against 252 men and 106 women, ten girls and two boys. Prisoners' legal rights are also not respected, with 6 women reporting that they have been deprived of lawyers and investigations during their cases. And anti-extremism legislation is being used to target specific individuals belonging to religious communities, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses in Crimea.
Freedom of expression and opinion is also restricted. In Crimea, people have been sentenced for sharing symbols of Ukrainian independence and resistance on social media. In this climate, the Russian authorities have sent Ukrainian children for the summer to "camps" where they are taught Russian patriotism and identity. In the same vein, there is the Centre for Military-Sport Training and Patriotic Education of Youth (VOIN), created in 2023, where children from the age of 14 undergo military training.
Recommendations
The report's conclusions include a series of recommendations: taking precautions to avoid minimizing the cost of civilian harm, reducing the use of mines to zero, and ensuring effective investigation into violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Secondly, the Russian Federation is called upon to withdraw its forces, as its attacks are considered 'aggression against Ukraine'. It is also called upon to respect freedom of law and comply with IHL and International Human Rights Law in the occupied territories. The same is requested of Ukraine. Furthermore, the international community is called upon to exert its utmost efforts to ensure compliance by the parties concerned. Finally, the international community should urge the OHCHR to continue monitoring the situation and to provide greater assistance to those affected by the war.
To read more, please visit:
- https://www.ohchr.org/en/about-us
- OHCHR | Universal Declaration of Human Rights - English
- Ukraine civilian war casualties 2024 | Statista
- https://inss.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/3010403/russias-war-in-ukraine-identity-history-and-conflict/
- https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/ukraine/our-presence#:~:text=Deployed%20in%20March%202014%2C%20the%20UN%20Human%20Rights,and%20ensuring%20that%20perpetrators%20of%20human%20rights%20violation
