UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday called on the international community to redouble efforts to bring justice to the victims of the “senseless” conflict in Ukraine.
“Efforts to establish justice and accountability for violations of international law must intensify and deepen,” Türk demanded, in a statement sent on the first anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion. in Ukraine.
But “it is equally essential that victims can obtain reparations and assistance (…), without having to wait for the results of formal legal proceedings”, he added.
Mr. Türk himself went to Ukraine in December, where he saw the “suffering inflicted on the population”.
“The civilian casualty toll is unbearable,” he said. “I deplore the terrible human cost of this senseless conflict,” he insisted, asking that it end “now”.
According to the UN, nearly 18 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance and some 14 million people have been displaced from their homes.
At least 8,006 civilians have died and 13,287 have been injured in the past 12 months in Ukraine, according to the High Commission. However, these are only cases verified by the UN, which therefore estimates that the real toll is higher.
According to the head of the UN Human Rights Mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, “thousands” of others died.
In his statement, Mr. Türk pointed out that the elderly and the disabled face enormous difficulties, unable in some cases to get to the bomb shelters.
“Most of those left behind in conflict-affected areas are older people, who are often unwilling or unable to leave,” he added.