Status: 03/18/2022 01:29 am
Destroyed houses, schools and hospitals – the United Nations is demanding that the attacks on civilians in Ukraine be investigated. Those responsible must be held accountable.
War has been raging in Ukraine for three weeks – and the UN Security Council is meeting for the ninth time. These are increasingly desperate sessions in which Western states appeal and threaten – and yet find themselves in a dilemma:
“We want to keep the balance: on the one hand, hold Russia accountable and debunk its disinformation. And on the other hand, keep the door open for talks to end this terrible Russian war.
That says the British UN ambassador Woodward. Your country, along with other Western nations, has requested this reunion of the main UN body, which begins – as always – with a macabre inventory by UN Political Affairs Commissioner DiCarlo: 726 civilian deaths, including 52 children. The number of unreported cases is high:
The number of civilian casualties and the level of destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine cannot be denied. This demands thorough investigation and accountability. International law is crystal clear: civilians must be protected. Direct attacks on them are forbidden.
And also attacks on health facilities, reminds the director of the World Health Organization WHO, Ghebreyesus. The WHO counted 43 such attacks – with twelve dead and many injured, he said in the Security Council. Raouf Mazou from the UN refugee organization UNHCR recalled the people who had to flee the fighting:
In this short period of time, the number of people fleeing Ukraine to neighboring countries has risen to 3.1 million. It is the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. 90 percent are women and children. They are at great risk of becoming victims of abuse or human trafficking.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Thomas-Greenfield, also recalled the fate of the refugees and called on Russia to cooperate with the International Criminal Court. The highest UN judges yesterday upheld a lawsuit demanding that Russia immediately end military violence:
Russia has clearly violated international law by violating Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia will be held accountable for its atrocities.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Nebenzia, again dismissed the allegations as lies and disinformation. He also announced that he would not put a Russian resolution on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine to the vote after all. Instead, the Security Council is to meet again for an emergency session over alleged US laboratories for biological weapons production in Ukraine. Allegations widely described as misinformation and unfounded propaganda.
France and Mexico, on the other hand, want to put their humanitarian resolutions to the vote in the UN General Assembly of all member states next week:
We’re trying to get broad consensus. I believe this will work. It’s about humanitarian issues: access for aid organizations, a cessation of fighting and respect for international law and the Geneva Conventions,”
says the French UN Ambassador Riviere. But he also knows that unlike the Security Council, a resolution of the UN General Assembly is not binding under international law – and is therefore more of symbolic value.