LOC12:56
09:56 GMT
GENEVA, March 15 (KUNA) -- The Independent Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded on Friday that "war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed in the context of the war."
Crimes included systematic torture of prisoner's deliberate destruction of cultural historical and religious monuments and bombing of civilians in populated areas, the committee said.
This came during a press conference of the Independent Commission of Inquiry from the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva on the sidelines of the United Nations Human Rights Council session.
The commission presented its report at the end of its second mandate in which Russian forces were "convicted of war crimes and called for accountability."
The Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry Erik Mose said that more than 60 visits to Ukraine had documented the use of systematic torture of detainees in 11 prisons in Ukrainian areas now under Russian control and in four Russian prisons as well as violations of international humanitarian law.
One of the most prominent crimes was the massive bombardment of civilian-populated areas particularly in the city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine, which left the city completely devastated.
Mose stated that the shelling and destruction of more than 58 health centers were also documented in Mariupol town.
For her part, committee member Vrinda Grover said the Commission had also documented the systematic destruction of historical monuments, and the seizure of numerous monuments and antiquities from Ukrainian museums, which also constituted a crime under international humanitarian law.
Grover also warned of the continued abduction of children, saying that 46 children had been abducted from Crimea to Russia since last March, denouncing the increase in sexual abuse rape and beatings against Ukrainian women.
The Commission was established by the Human Rights Council on 4 March 2022 to investigate violations of human rights, and related crimes in the context of the Russian Federation's aggression against Ukraine.
On 4 April 2023, the Council extended the Commission's mandate for another year.
Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaking at the high-level segment on the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council, called for an additional one-year extension of the mandate of the Independent Investigative Commission on Ukraine. (end)
imk.nhq