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HRC - Press conference: Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine - 19 March 2025
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HRC - Press conference: Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine - 19 March 2025
STORY: Press conference - Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
TRT: 03’05”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 19 March 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speakers:
- Erik Møse, Chair, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
- Pablo de Greiff, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
- Vrinda Grover, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley
- Wide shot of podium with speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Pablo de Greiff, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: "The Commission examined a growing number of incidents in which the Russian armed forces killed or wounded Ukrainian soldiers who were captured or attempted to surrender. This constitutes a war crime."
- Medium shot of journalist holding camera.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Pablo de Greiff, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “The Commission found that both parties to the armed conflict using drones killed or wounded visibly injured soldiers who could no longer defend themselves. This is also a war crime.”
- Wide shot of journalists, participants in the press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Pablo de Greiff, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “One former soldier stated that in a meeting, a deputy brigade commander told the entire regiment. Quote, 'Prisoners are not needed, shoot them on the spot.' Close quote."
- Wide shot: speakers at podium.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Vrinda Grover, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “Russian authorities have committed torture pursuant to a coordinated State policy and as crimes against humanity. Personnel of the Federal Security Service, referred to as FSB in Russian, exercise the highest authority when present in detention facilities they committed or ordered torture during various stages of detention.”
- Medium shot of press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Vrinda Grover, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “A civilian woman who had been raped during confinement in a detention facility held by Russian authorities stated that she pleaded with the perpetrators, telling them she could be their mother's age, but they dismissed her saying. B***h, don't even compare yourself to my mother. You are not even a human. You do not deserve to live. We have concluded that Russian authorities committed the war crimes of rape and sexual violence as a form of torture.”
- Wide shot of journalists, participants in press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Pablo de Greiff, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “We documented some violations of human rights law committed by Ukrainian authorities against persons they accused of collaboration with Russian authorities.”
- Wide shot of speakers at podium.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Erik Møse, Chair, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “Many persons have been missing for months or years and some have died. The faith and whereabouts of many remain unknown, leaving their families in agonizing uncertainty.”
- Close up of journalist nodding.
- Close up of participant listening.
- Wide shot of journalists, participants in press room.
Ukrainians tortured, raped, executed by Russian captors, Human Rights Council hears
The Human Rights Council on Wednesday heard gruesome testimony of torture, rape and execution of Ukrainian detainees and soldiers allegedly committed by Russian forces, as a high-level independent probe into Russia’s full-scale invasion delivered its latest mandated report in Geneva.
According to the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, enforced disappearances of civilians committed by Russian authorities have been “widespread and systematic” and likely amount to crimes against humanity.
“Many persons have been missing for months or years and some have died,” said Erik Mose, Chair of the independent investigative panel, whose Commissioners are not UN staff nor paid for their work. “The faith and whereabouts of many remain unknown, leaving their families in agonizing uncertainty.”
Requests from families of missing persons to Russian authorities for information about their relatives are typically met with unhelpful replies, while one young man was “detained and beaten when he went to the authorities to enquire about his missing girlfriend”, the Commission noted.
As in previous presentations prepared for the Human Rights Council, the Commission’s latest report contains equally disturbing findings about the use of torture by Russian authorities, panel member Vrinda Grover told journalists in Geneva: “A civilian woman who had been raped during confinement in a detention facility held by Russian authorities stated that she pleaded with the perpetrators, telling them she could be their mother's age, but they dismissed her saying. ‘B***h, don't even compare yourself to my mother. You are not even a human. You do not deserve to live.’ We have concluded that Russian authorities committed the war crimes of rape and sexual violence as a form of torture.”
Ms. Grover noted that the Commissioners’ investigations confirmed that members of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) “exercised the highest authority. They committed or ordered torture at various stages of detention, and in particular during interrogations, when some of the most brutal treatment was inflicted”.
Challenged about the focus on alleged rights abuses by Russian authorities in their latest report, the Commissioners noted that they had detailed alleged violations committed by the Ukrainian forces “whenever we have found [them]”.
Commissioner Pablo de Greiff also noted that despite more than 30 requests for information from Russian authorities about possible Ukrainian attacks, “we have received absolutely none” and pointed to evidence of reprisals against supposed collaborators working with the Russian authorities.
Another aspect of the independent rights investigators’ report involves a growing number of incidents in which the Russian armed forces apparently killed or wounded Ukrainian soldiers who were captured or attempted to surrender. “This constitutes a war crime,” Mr. de Greiff said, relaying the testimony of a former soldier who alleged that “a deputy brigade commander told the entire regiment, quote, 'Prisoners are not needed, shoot them on the spot.'”
Teleprompter
[Other language spoken]
Good morning, everyone.
Thank you very much for joining us at this press conference with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
As you may know, the Commission was created by the Human Rights Council in March of 2022 to investigate human rights violations in the context of the aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation.
We're pleased to have with us today all three members of the Commission who presented their findings to the Council this morning.
In the middle we have the Chair of the Commission, Mr Eric Mercy, to my right, Miss Brenda Grover, and on the far side we have Mr Pablo Degrave.
Now Mr Mercy will read opening marks, followed by the fellow commissioners, and then we'll open the floor to questions.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
So we are here today to share with you the main findings of the report that we have just presented to the Human Rights Council.
And one of our important findings, a new one, is that the Russian authorities committed enforced disappearances against Ukrainian civilians as crimes against humanity.
Russian authorities detained large numbers of civilians in all provinces where they took control of areas in Ukraine.
Victims included local authorities, civil servants, journalists, and other persons they perceived as the ****** to their military objectives in Ukraine.
Many prisoners of war were also victims of enforced disappearances.
The victims were often transferred to detention facilities in Russian occupied territories of Ukraine or deported to the Russian Federation.
In these detention facilities, they were subjected to other grave violations and crimes, including torture and sexual violence.
Many persons have been missing for months or years, and some have died.
The fate and whereabouts of many remain unknown, leaving their families in agonising uncertainty.
The failure of Russian authorities to inform the families has violated the families right to truth.
They undertook significant risks searching for the victims and experiences prolonged anguish without information about their fate or whereabouts or how to help them, the wife of the man who had been missing for over 2 years stated.
The despair is killing me.
I don't know what to do or how to help my husband.
The Commission found that in response to enquiries from families of missing persons, Russian authorities at different levels provided standard replies which systematically failed to communicate the fate or whereabouts of those disappeared.
This deprived the victims of the protection of the law and rendered them vulnerable for further violations and crimes.
Based on our evidence, the Commission has concluded that the enforced disappearances against civilians were perpetrated pursuant to a coordinated state policy and amount to crimes against humanity.
This reports documents further evidence confirming a previous finding that Russian authorities have committed torture pursuant to a coordinated state policy and as crimes against humanity.
Personnel of the Federal Security Service, referred to as FSB in Russian, exercise the highest authority.
When present in detention facilities, they committed or ordered torture during various stages of detention and in particular during interrogations, when some of the most brutal forms were inflicted.
The Commission investigated new cases of **** and sexual violence against female detainees.
Some women were raped during interrogation as a means to coerce, intimidate or punish them.
Others were subjected to nudity in the presence of male guards.
The actions of the perpetrators aimed at humiliating and degrading women in detention reflect the gender dimension of violence in detention.
A civilian woman who had been raped during confinement in a detention facility held by Russian authorities stated that she pleaded with the perpetrators, telling them she could be their mother's age, but they dismissed her, saying, ***** don't even compare yourself to my mother.
You are not even a human.
[Other language spoken]
We have concluded that Russian authorities committed the war crimes of **** and sexual violence as a form of torture.
The Commission examined a growing number of incidents in which the Russian armed forces killed or wounded Ukrainian soldiers who were captured or attempted to surrender.
This constitutes a war crime.
Our investigators have been able to interview soldiers who deserted from the Russian armed forces.
Several of them told the Commission that they had received orders not to take prisoners, but to **** them instead.
This suggests A coordinated state policy.
For instance, one former soldier stated that in a meeting, a deputy brigade commander told the entire regiment, quote, prisoners are not needed, ***** them on the spot” The Commission found that both parties to the armed conflict using drones, killed or wounded visibly injured soldiers who could no longer defend themselves.
This is also a war crime.
Videos and photographs of such incidents show that the soldiers that were hit often had serious injuries.
We documented some violations of human rights law committed by Ukrainian authorities against persons they accused of collaboration with the Russian authorities.
Moreover, the Commission had previously referred to the legal uncertainty concerning the definition of collaborative activity in Ukrainian legislation and has recommended that it be aligned with international standards.
To conclude, victims have suffered from violations and crimes, as well as years of hardships.
The recovery, rehabilitation and the reintegration in society pose numerous challenges and require comprehensive efforts and assistance.
The Commission does reiterates the importance of judicial and non judicial forms of accountability, including measures of truth, reparation and guarantees of non recurrence.
Ensuring that the perpetrators of violations and crimes are identified and held accountable for their acts helps to end the cycle of impunity.
Both forms of accountability contribute to the sustainability of peace processes.
Thank you very much.
[Other language spoken]
Now we'll open the floor to questions.
Do we have any from the room, please in the 2nd row.
[Other language spoken]
If you could just identify yourself in the media outlet that you work for.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I'm the correspondent of the Russian agency REHANOVS team.
The 31 of December, we had a report from the OHCHR, the periodic report about the prisoners of war.
One months ago, we had a press conference with the special reporter on torture and they both confirmed that almost all of the Russians prisoners of war in Ukraine have been tortured.
And there is no word about it in your report.
So my first question is why other special reporters and what Chr are seeing and you are not at least writing a sentence about it.
And the same question about the execution of prisoners of war, because is, if I understand well, your mandate now was to, in the report you are covering the situation of the past year in Ukraine.
And they had a lot of videos with Russian prisoner of war wounded on the ground and killed with drones.
OHCHR also spoke about that.
And it is not the case in your report.
And my last question is about the force mobilisation in Ukraine, because every day we can see dozens of videos of people being packed in bus and throw in the bus and then that are committing suicide.
It was the case 2 days ago in Odessa for example.
And OHCHI is also speaking about the situation.
Because almost people that for religious reason don't want to go to fight, they have because people are just packing them in the bus and there is nothing about it in your report.
So I was just really surprised and want to ask why.
[Other language spoken]
It is not entirely true that there is nothing about this in our report.
We have a section on the use of drones, again by both parties in order to **** soldiers that are or they combat.
So it is something that we have documented in the report and in fact that I mentioned in my statement today.
So part of it we have reported on force mobilisation.
The fact is that we have to make selections about topics and we cannot investigate everything at the same time, and particularly because we have been very deeply affected by the liquidity crisis and therefore we take topics as they go.
But we have been pretty meticulous in maintaining our impartiality and our independence.
And whenever we have found violations committed by the Ukrainian forces, we have reported them.
We also report on the problems that we have found with the legal uncertainty in the Ukrainian Criminal Code.
So I don't think that we have been particularly shy about reporting about violations committed by Ukraine.
I'm sorry about my first question against the about the torture against prison of the four, as OHCHR and the special reporter spoke about a long time.
[Other language spoken]
So part of the difficulty that we have also encountered is that we have requested 31 times information from the Russian Federation about situations that may have affected their own victims, and we have never received a response.
And therefore there is a problem both of access of availability of information and of responsiveness to requests.
But 31 times we have made requests for information and we have received absolutely none.
[Other language spoken]
Just wait HR for example, they don't have to access to Russia, but they have meetings with the Russians prisoners of war in Ukraine and this is how they are writing their report.
So you didn't spoke with any Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine.
I want to remind you the investigations are carried out by members of the Secretariat that reside in Vienna and travelled to Ukraine on this particular, during this particular mandate, most of the conversations, most of the investigations have been taken, have taken place remotely because of lack of funding.
And that also limits the possibilities of carrying out the sort of broad investigations that we had been able to carry out in the past.
So more generally, I think it's important to remember that this is actually the 10th report we are submitting now.
And I'm sure you know that, but it should be part of the total picture.
And in our work we have to go step by step and being only allotted about 20 pages for each report to the Human Rights Council.
Like all other commissions, there is limitations as to how many topics we can deal with every time.
But if you look at our the totality of our report, I think it's fair to say that we have have covered quite the broad ground of the violations in Ukraine and that we have sought to cover violations on both sides.
And I stress this attitude of the Commission to be independent, impartial and to seek information from both sides.
If we we've consistently do that, if we don't get information, then that makes it difficult to reach conclusion, but we still try.
Our investigations are a product of total investigation process and the actual possibilities on the ground including access.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
In the front row.
[Other language spoken]
Hi, thank you for this briefing.
[Other language spoken]
Today at the the council, the British ambassador was was raising his concern that as long as this war continues, the suffering will only get worse.
Given recent events and recent talks for some kind of peace deal, which so far have not come to to bear fruit, how concerned are you about the next months ahead given the grey violations that you have reported in your report?
And secondly, I just wanted to understand a bit more what you're saying as well about the liquidity crisis, if you're able to give some details on how that's impacting you.
[Other language spoken]
I mean, are you in the current state of funding confident that your mandate will be extended for another year?
[Other language spoken]
Let's start with the last one.
The issue of the prolongation or extension of the mandate is entirely up to the Human Rights Council.
We are simply performing our task during each mandate and then it's up to states to decide.
We will get a response whether there will be extension or not, probably in early April towards the end of the current session of the Human Rights Council.
I note that today there were many delegations supporting the Commission being content with the impartiality, independence, independence and thoroughness of the report and that expressed the view that they would be in favour of extension.
So now it remains to be seen what they will decide the totality of the members of the Human Rights Council.
Then to your second question, and that is the liquidity crisis.
Just for context, the liquidity crisis is of relevance to all human rights bodies and many have been affected in their work by this and this is known to all in Geneva, but maybe not to everyone.
When it comes to our situation, we have been our staff has due to lack of funding, like other commissions being reduced considerable.
It's, it's, these are general cuts by the administration in many entities that presents a challenge.
And we have solved that by trying to focus on the on items and then use our investigators intensively and let them travel to Ukraine because also our travel funds have been reduced.
[Other language spoken]
We don't spend money on the commissioners travelling, which are very useful trips for the three commissioners to be part of investigations and to meet counterparts or colleagues or sources of information in Ukraine.
But we deliberately decide to prioritise obtaining the substance and the evidence and then we resort to video conferences with Ukrainian authorities when there is a need to do so and the peace process.
She asked on the on what is happening in the on the piece.
Yes, the thank you.
Well, again, and this is, let let me stress that our mandate is of course very specific.
We are to investigate, come up with legal qualifications and then to come up with recommendations with respect to accountability.
And of course we are limited limiting ourselves to these tasks in accordance with the mandate.
[Other language spoken]
And you will have noted that we have, for instance, both in our report and in our oral statement to the Human Rights Council today stressed the need for accountability, both judicial and non judicial being an important part of.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
I think as you, as you mentioned yourself in the Human Rights Council, you would have noted that many of the Member States, there was a, a common refrain which was that justice and accountability must underpin any of the peace process to make it sustainable.
And to that extent, the work remains very relevant.
[Other language spoken]
Let's take a couple questions online first from Lawrence Ciero from the Swiss News Agency.
[Other language spoken]
Yeah, thanks Todd and thanks Commissioners for the press conference.
I'd like to push you a little bit further on the, on the discussions around the ceasefire because the, the first time you alluded to potential crimes against humanity was one year ago on about the attacks on the energy related infrastructure.
And this is precisely the angle that was discussed yesterday for a potential first step in the ceasefire.
So how do you welcome that?
And related to that, are you asking every party which is negotiating to, to, to have provisions on enforced disappearance and, and asking them, asking the Russian Federation within that framework of the ceasefire talks to disclose the fate and whereabouts of en enforced disappearance people in order for them to show confidence building measures?
[Other language spoken]
Thank you very much for the question.
The Commission, in fact, has long been interested in investigating the consequences, particularly on civilians, of the attacks on the energy infrastructure in Ukraine, and of course, we welcome any measure that would mitigate the suffering of the civilian population.
We will, to the extent that the mandate is renewed, we will continue with those investigations as we will continue with the investigations of order, violation of international humanitarian law or international human rights law by both sides of the conflict.
Concerning whether we are asking for particular provisions to be inserted in a peace agreement, I don't think that this is our role.
This is not a political entity.
It's a Commission or thinker.
It's a fact finding Commission also, but we assert based on experience and good evidence that the sustainability of peace efforts is strengthened by the satisfaction of international legal obligations.
And I think that that's a general statement that can be grounded on the basis of past experience, but that's where our role stops.
[Other language spoken]
Let's take another question online from Phineas Rucker.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
Phineas Rucker here from Forbidden Stories.
I just have a quick question regarding the detention of civilians.
I'm wondering if you have any estimates for the number of Ukrainian civilians who are currently imprisoned both in the occupied territories of Ukraine and in the Russian Federation.
So that's my first question.
And the second question is specifically, you mentioned journalists.
Do you have an estimate for how many journalists are detained in the occupied territories in Russia?
If you can elaborate on either of those questions, I'd really appreciate that.
[Other language spoken]
As regards the first question, the numbers, we are not in our report mentioning any particular numbers as we see them, but we have a footnote where we know that based on that, according to the government of Ukraine, 9425 civilians and 40,400 and 4077 military 40,447 military personnel had disappeared as of July 224.
Now these are not our figures.
We are just having them in a footnote for completion.
We are not in a position to give an exact figure, but it's clear that this happens to a considerable degree That follows from the evidence.
The next question, figures on journalists, which that was it.
[Other language spoken]
[Other language spoken]
We have a question from Robin, Robin Millar from Asian France Press Thank you very much.
There's a story in several media outlets today that the Trump administration has cut off the funding for a Yale University programme that has been tracking the deportation of children from Ukraine, with researchers potentially losing access to data on around 30,000 children.
Firstly, if you're, if you're aware of this, can I ask you for your, your views on that and, and more broadly, what has the Commission been able to uncover on this, on this subject of child deportation?
[Other language spoken]
We have in the past also been examining and looking into the issue of forced transfer, illegal deportation of children.
And as we stated today too, it is both complex and a challenging subject which requires access, of course, a lot of resources, but also information including figures.
And we know that these deportation and transfers have taken place in different circumstances and scenarios.
This is an ongoing investigation on our part and as and when we arrive at more more information and conclusions, we will make them available through our reports.
Insofar as this news report regarding the study is concerned, we have just recently heard about it.
Needless to say, it is a matter of grave concern because information and data of this kind, even if you know that there can be concerns with respect to funding, but information and data would be material and important not just for today, but for for time to come.
And I, I don't know if there is anything more to add, but it is it is a matter of grave concern if the information and material is lost because I think that is really like a common resource for everyone.
OK, Robin, did you have a follow up?
[Other language spoken]
Just returning to the subject of attacks on energy infrastructure, what's has your Commission been able to find out on this subject, particularly on the on the impact that it has had on civilians?
[Other language spoken]
So our work is not complete and therefore we have not reached a legal determination on it.
We have followed different avenues trying to measure the impact on civilians.
We are of course, aware of different teams and groups that are working on this.
For instance, Physicians for Human Rights published very recently a report of the impact of those attacks on the hospital infrastructure in Ukraine and we have taken note an interest of that report.
We continue carrying on our investigations, but as I said, we have not concluded those.
We will be coming back to that provided that the mandate is prolonged.
OK, All right.
Do we have any more questions from the room or online?
[Other language spoken]
If not, that brings us to the end of this press conference.
Thank you all for joining us and have a good day.
[Other language spoken]