Moscow’s deportation and forcible transfer of thousands of children from Ukraine to Russia constitutes a crime against humanity, a team of United Nations investigators said Tuesday.
The UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said it had evidence leading it to conclude that “Russian authorities have committed crimes against humanity of deportation and forcible transfer, as well as the enforced disappearance of children.”
The investigation was established by the UN Human Rights Council shortly after Moscow launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The investigation said Russia had deported or transferred “thousands” of children from occupied areas of Ukraine, of which it had so far confirmed 1,205 cases.
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“Four years later, 80 percent of the children deported or transferred in the cases investigated by the commission have not returned,” he said.
Moscow has failed to establish a system that facilitates returns and has instead focused on the long-term placement of children in families or institutions in Russia, while relatives were not informed of their fate.
The commission confirmed its earlier conclusion that Russian authorities had illegally deported and transferred children – as a war crime – “and that they have unjustifiably delayed their repatriation, which is also a war crime.”
These measures were “not guided by the best interests of the child” and violated international law, the investigation concluded.
Putin quoted
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s involvement, “including through his direct authority over the entities that have directed and executed this policy, has been visible from the beginning.”
In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued a war crimes arrest warrant against Putin, accusing him of “illegally deporting” Ukrainian children.
The issue is very sensitive in Ukraine and remains central in the negotiations for a possible peace agreement between kyiv and Moscow.
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According to Kyiv, almost 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly removed.
Russia insists it has removed some Ukrainian children from their homes or orphanages to protect them from hostilities.
Turning to Russian trials in the context of their invasion of Ukraine, the commission concluded that Russian authorities have “systematically fabricated evidence” and “systematically violated a number of fair judicial guarantees,” while judges “have failed to act independently and impartially.”
‘Extreme violence’
The commission also investigated the situation of citizens of 17 countries who were recruited – either voluntarily or through deception – to fight with Russian troops in Ukraine.
Among them were men from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brazil, Cuba, Egypt, Ghana, India, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nepal, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkey and Yemen.
“After training, which generally lasts between a week and 30 days, they were forced to serve on the front lines in Ukraine, often assigned to extremely dangerous tasks,” he said in his report.
Commanders arbitrarily imposed “extreme violence” as punishment for refusing orders that meant almost certain death, and soldiers described being treated as “cannon fodder,” sent into “meat attacks” without necessary training or equipment and “forced to advance at all costs.”
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“The evidence gathered demonstrates abusive behavior, cruelty, humiliation, inhuman treatment and a complete disregard for human life and dignity, perpetrated with a sense of impunity,” the report says.
Regarding Ukraine, the report expresses concern about the overly broad definition and sometimes distorted interpretation of the crime of “collaboration.”
The commission also said reports of violent treatment of conscientious objectors during the Ukrainian mobilization were “a source of concern.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha welcomed the report and stressed the need to “end Russia’s sense of impunity.”
“The international community must increase pressure on Russia to force the aggressor to stop its ill-treatment of prisoners of war and civilian detainees, secure their release and secure the return of forcibly deported and transferred Ukrainian children,” he said in X.
The report will be presented on Thursday at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Moscow does not recognize the commission and does not respond to its requests for access, information and meetings.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
