The Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights has published a new assessment of the international response to Russia’s unprovoked attack against and its reported commission of widespread and systematic human rights violations and war crimes in Ukraine to mark the one-year anniversary of the invasion.
Entitled JBI Appeal on the One-Year Anniversary of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Collective Action Needed to Uphold Human Rights, Secure Peace, and Ensure Justice, the new assessment calls on States to take further action, individually and collectively, to bring about an end to the conflict and the widespread human rights violations that are ongoing, while upholding Ukraine’s territorial integrity and creating the necessary conditions for the people of Ukraine to obtain redress, including guarantees that the harm to which they have been subjected will not be repeated in the future.
Among its recommendations, the assessment calls on States to:
- Maintain and continue to support the independent monitoring mechanisms documenting and verifying the reports of widespread violations emerging from Ukraine and Russia.
- Vote in favor of a resolution calling for extending the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine for another year which will be considered by the UN Human Rights Council in early April 2023.
- Provide financial support to the UN Human Rights Office to ensure the continued operation of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).
- Encourage the UN Human Rights Office to provide adequate assistance to the new Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia.
- Support and facilitate the work of independent human rights monitors and journalists reporting on human rights concerns in Ukraine and Russia.
- Continue to amplify the findings and conclusions of independent and impartial monitors and raise alarm about egregious abuses.
- Continue to draw attention to and amplify the findings of independent UN human rights monitors about serious violations in Ukraine, including at the Human Rights Council and the resumed emergency special session of the UN General Assembly on Ukraine.
- Following its publication in March 2023, circulate the report of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine as an official document of the UN Security Council and invite the Chair of the COI to brief the Council.
- Continue inviting senior UN human rights officials to brief the UN Security Council on Ukraine.
- Continue to invest diplomatic energy in mobilizing widespread support for collective responses to the crisis in Ukraine that reaffirm the importance of respect for human rights.
- Vote in favor of the draft resolution that the UN General Assembly will consider at the next meeting of the emergency special session on Ukraine on February 22, 2023.
- Consistently to express support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the need for accountability for atrocity crimes committed during the conflict.
- Encourage UN officials to continue to publicize information about the commission of serious human rights violations in Ukraine and Russia.
- Take further action to hold accountable and deter further harmful actions by the individuals and entities most responsible for violations in Ukraine.
- Provide support to efforts to gather evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine and facilitate prosecution of perpetrators of such acts.
- Increase the financial and personal consequences facing the individuals and entities most responsible for the continued aggression and gross human rights violations that Russian forces and those associated with them continue to commit against the people of Ukraine, including by strengthening existing sanctions.
- Ensure that those affected by the conflict in Ukraine receive needed assistance.
- Support measures aimed at ensuring that Ukrainian victims of the Russian aggression obtain redress and reparation for the harm they have experienced.
- Provide funds to support the UN’s $5.6 billion humanitarian appeal for Ukraine and neighboring countries that have accepted large numbers of refugees.
- Expand domestic infrastructure for refugee resettlement.
As Russia’s offensive campaign and illegitimate claim to sovereignty over several areas of Ukraine show no sign of abating, it is critical that States sustain these positive measures and deepen their commitment to securing a just resolution of the conflict in which Ukraine’s territorial integrity is maintained and in which victims of the many grave violations that have been committed are able to obtain justice and redress, as expeditiously as possible.
The full statement is available here.