Human Rights House Foundation statement
HRC54 – Item 4 – Interactive Dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry – Ukraine
25 September 2023
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Thank you.
Our Ukrainian civil society partners continue to document the dire circumstances facing civilians in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
Tens of thousands of civilians are arbitrarily detained and subjected to various rights violations, including the deliberate denial of medical care in the case of some political prisoners. Several prisoners, including Iryna Danylovych, Volodymyr Dudka, and others, need urgent medical attention.
A process is urgently needed to identify civilian detainees and prisoners, their health status and conditions of detention, and facilitate their return to Ukraine-controlled territory.
There is also a need to document and investigate systematic enforced disappearances committed against Ukrainian citizens. Such violations potentially constitute crimes against humanity and detailed documentation will facilitate compensation to the victims and non-repetition in the future.
Finally, we continue to observe a concerted effort to erase Ukrainian identity, particularly among children, in the occupied territories. Ukrainian children are systematically denied access to culturally appropriate education, indoctrinated, and militarised by Russian occupational authorities. Such actions violate international obligations pertaining to the right to education, identity, and prohibition of war propaganda.
President.
We ask the Commission of Inquiry what more can be done to monitor and document the status of civilian detainees and prisoners in Ukraine, as well as those who are forcibly moved into territory of the Russian Federation?
Thank you.
