UN sets up commission to monitor human rights violations in Ukraine

The UN Human Rights Council on Friday, March 4, overwhelmingly approved a resolution to create a special commission to monitor the human rights situation during the war in Ukraine.

Of the representatives of 47 states, 32 voted in favor of creating the commission, 13 abstained, including China, and only two states opposed: the Russian Federation and Eritrea.

The creation of the commission demonstrates the growing unity of the global community in condemning the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. Thus, the UAE, Mauritania, Senegal, and Somalia had only the day before planned to abstain, but on the day of the vote, they also spoke in favor of the resolution. In the course of the debate, representatives of many countries, one after the other, expressed their condemnation of Moscow’s actions.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky welcomed the decision. Ukraine’s permanent representative, Yevgenia Filipenko, said after the vote: “I thank all those who voted for the right course.”

It is still unclear how the work of the commission will be organized. Earlier, the international criminal court in The Hague began investigating alleged war crimes that parties to the conflict may have committed in Ukraine.

Russian authorities claim that the military is not shooting at civilian targets and is trying to save the lives of civilians. The Russian delegate stated that supporters of the resolution use “all means to blame Russia for what is happening in Ukraine.