The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said on Tuesday that the extent of the destruction inflicted by Russia on Ukraine will be reflected in the rights of future generations.
“The war in Ukraine has resulted in civilian casualties and destruction on a shocking scale,” Türk said in a speech during a session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
He added, “The rights of Ukrainians will be violated for generations to come, and the impact of the war on fuel and food prices, as well as geopolitical tensions, affects the peoples of all regions of the world.”
“The fact that damage of this kind has been able to cause again in the world, with a war in Europe, is a betrayal of the promises of change” made in the aftermath of World War II.
Turk expressed his concern about the things that are happening in Russia. He referred to the closure of the independent newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” and the “Moscow Helsinki Group,” the oldest organization for the defense of human rights, and saw this as “a new indication of the end of the Russian public space.”
“The continuous pro-war messages on official media feed stereotypes and fuel hatred and violence,” he said.
He pointed out that more than 180 criminal investigations have been opened in Russia on charges of defamation of the armed forces. Among those convicted were a journalist and a municipal official.
He recalled that “since December, any person or entity considered ‘under external influence’, which is a vague designation, can be considered ‘an agent abroad’ and is subject to many restrictions.”