On October 2nd, HRN gave an oral statement to the Human Rights Council expressing deep concern over the human rights and humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including widespread impunity for rampant sexual violence by Russia’s military.
The statement can be viewed below and on the UN’s streaming site from this link.
A transcript of the statement is below the video.
Oral Statement on Ukraine
Human Rights Now remains deeply concerned about the human rights and humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to UN reports, civilian casualties from January to August this year have already exceeded the total for all of last year. Furthermore, a September report recorded 1,004 cases of sexual violence from the start of the invasion to the end of July this year, with 89% attributed to Russian authorities. Many occurred in occupied areas of Ukraine and include gang rape, genital mutilation, and electric shocks.
The sexual violence must stop immediately, regardless of the perpetrator. However, the Russian Federation bears a particularly heavy responsibility to take concrete actions, given the high number of violations by its officials. Perversely, Russia has instead implemented laws granting broad immunity for crimes, including sexual violence, committed during military service.
Reports also show that Russia is conducting large-scale, systematic transnational repression against Ukrainian critics by a variety of means in multiple countries. We call on the Russian government to immediately end the conflict in Ukraine and on the international community to strengthen support for accountability initiatives for all human rights violations and war crimes by the Russian government against Ukrainians. We also urge states to refuse any cooperation with Russia’s transnational repression and to enhance efforts to protect victims.