At the 34th meeting of the 55th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Ukrainian Bar Association and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) issued a joint statement on the situation in Ukraine against the background of full-scale Russian aggression, which continues for the third year. The statement was made by Francesca Restifo, Senior Human Rights Lawyer at IBAHRI — UN Representative.

Ms. Restifo noted that UBA and IBAHRI condemn the ongoing widespread violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity in the course of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

In their statement, UBA and IBAHRI:

• condemned recent attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructures, the “widespread and systematic” use of torture, incommunicado detention and enforced disappearances, in territories occupied by Russian armed forces, also recently confirmed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture;
• expressed deep concern over the COI’s recent observations on allegations of genocide in Ukraine and that, some of the rhetoric in Russian state media may constitute incitement to genocide; welcomed that the Commission is continuing its investigations on such issues;
• strongly condemned the forcible transfers and deportation of Ukrainian children to the temporarily occupied territories and the Russian Federation, as well as the crimes of forced passportization and illegal adoptions of the same children.

Also, the UBA and IBAHRI called on Russia to take all the necessary measures to ensure the prompt repatriation and family reunification of all abducted Ukrainian children. "It is incumbent to act with speed to protect kids and preserve their rights to identity, before it is too late," the statement stressed.

In addition, the UBA and IBAHRI called on the UN Human Rights Council to support the renewal of the COI mandate.

The full text of the statement is available at this link.