“In this report, the Commission concluded that crimes against humanity and war crimes by the Russian authorities were aimed at children, who are some of the most vulnerable victims. These crimes have lasting consequences on their lives and future,” according to the report that will be presented the day after tomorrow to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, reports HINA.
The report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine studied the cases of 1,205 children from five Ukrainian regions and found that 80 percent of them still have not returned to their homeland.
Ukrainian authorities claim that Russia has illegally deported or forcibly resettled over 19,500 children to Russia or Belarus, in violation of the Geneva Conventions. Last year’s research, funded by the United States of America, showed that Russia has expanded its re-education programs for deported children.
“Deportations and transfers took place in various locations across a wider geographic area in parts of Ukraine under Russian occupation after regular patterns of behavior were noted.
This indicates that these are systemic and widespread actions,” the report points out. Russia denies that it abducted children against their will and claims that it evacuated those people who requested it in order to remove them from the war zone.
(Vijesti.ba)
