The finding was contained in the first report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry into Ukraine, which was formed in March this year at the request of Human Rights Council member states, and that most of the commission’s work was focused on the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy.
Commission Chairperson Eric Moss said investigators visited 27 towns and settlements and interviewed more than 150 victims and witnesses. “They also examined sites of destruction, cemeteries where war dead were buried, detention and torture sites, and weapons remains.
“Based on the evidence collected so far during the existence of the commission, we have found through the investigation that war crimes have been committed in all four areas,” he told reporters in Geneva.
The conclusion is based on findings published earlier this year by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).
The report noted that extrajudicial killings took place in more than 30 settlements in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions when the Russian armed forces took control of these areas in late February and March.
Among other key findings in the report, 16 towns and settlements were found to have carried out a surprising number of “brutal executions”. Common elements of the crime include visible signs of execution on the body. ie hands tied behind back, gunshot wounds to head. , and throat slits etc. are seen in bandits.
The report, delivered to the Human Rights Council on Friday, documented how Russian Federation forces used explosive weapons “indiscriminately on civilians and combatants in densely populated areas”.
“We are shocked by the large number of executions and other violations by Russian forces, and the commission has received consistent reports of torture and ill-treatment.”
Horrifying allegations of sexual assault against Ukrainian communities also took place, according to the report. This kind of violence was committed against people including children.
“Sexual harassment commission probed. It records cases of some Russian Federation soldiers committing such crimes,” said Commissioner Jasminka Dumhur.
Meanwhile, Russian forces are not the only ones responsible for human rights abuses. Commissioner Pablo de Greif said that Ukrainian forces are also responsible for human rights violations:
“We have found two incidents of ill-treatment by Ukrainian soldiers towards soldiers of the Russian Federation. We mentioned this in our statement. “We have found many incidents that amount to war crimes on the part of the Russian Federation,” he added.