Oral Update of the High Commissioner

OHCHR periodic report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine

15 December 2022 International

Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (EAFORD) and Geneva International Centre for Justice (GICJ)

Delivered by Loïc Dorthe

Thank you president,

We appreciate the High Commissioner's visit to Ukraine and commend OHCHR's ongoing work in reporting and documenting human rights violations.

There is no doubt that the crossing of the Ukrainian border by the Russian army last February, with thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks, was a clear act of invasion of a sovereign country. Ten months later, with the front apparently frozen because of the winter, we are immensely concerned about the human rights violations perpetrated within the occupied territories.

Let us look back at other occupations. To name but a few, the US occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in a clear hostilities between the population and the occupier. Dozens, if not hundreds, of human rights and international laws were violated by the United States, to no avail. Two decades later, both Iraq and Afghanistan are more unstable than ever and accountability for these crimes has yet to be established.

In Palestine, the Israeli occupation persists. Yes, resolutions have been passed, but Israel has not respected them, the occupation and the crimes continue daily. Arbitrary detentions, collective punishments, and the list goes on.

EAFORD and Geneva International Centre for Justice therefore urge not only an end to the war in Ukraine, but also to end all other occupations. We also call for accountability for all illegal invasions and occupations and their resulting crimes against humanity that are being committed worldwide.

I thank you.