OHCHR head did not provide Russia with data over alleged war crimes
4 Min Read
The UN's human rights chief is yet to provide Russia with requested data about possible war crimes in Bucha.
-
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk speaks about the activities of his office during the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 7, 2023 (AP)
The head of the UN OHCHR, Volker Turk, did not provide Russia with specific data on the investigation of the Bucha events, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Gennady Gatilov told Sputnik on Wednesday.
Gatilov noted that only the UN headquarters in New York could decide on the publication of such biased assessments.
"Only yesterday I received Mr. Turk's belated response to a request of May 18 this year to provide specific data on the progress of the investigation into the events in the city of Bucha," the diplomat said.
"The high commissioner shamefully said that the release of such information and assessments was the responsibility of UN headquarters in New York," he added.
For Gatilov, this is "another evidence of Mr. Turk's unwillingness to give an objective picture" of the situation in Ukraine.
Moreover, Gatilov said that recent statements delivered by Turk and his office, alleging that the attack on the Olenivka detention center in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) last summer was not carried out by a HIMARS missile, was 'puzzling' as his office lacks the competency to make such an assessment.
"The statement of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk that the deaths of more than 50 people in the Olenivka detention center were not caused by a HIMARS missile is puzzling. I would like to ask Mr. Turk how he and his office, which has no proper competence in such a specific area, came to such a conclusion," Gatilov told Sputnik.
Making such "loud statements" require that one first conduct a proper assessment of the situation, but none of this has been done by the OHCHR, he stressed.
"At the same time, Volker Turk defiantly ignores official information from the Russian Defense Ministry and the Investigative Committee, which has been repeatedly brought to the attention of the general public. We regret that the high commissioner has once again demonstrated double standards in assessing the events," the diplomat pointed out.
Read more: Ukrainian military deliberately executed over 10 Russian POWs: Moscow
In March 2022, Ukraine released footage it claimed shows evidence of crimes committed by the Russian armed forces in Bucha.
The Russian Ministry of Defense later said that these were another Ukrainian provocation and "not a single local resident has suffered from any violent actions while the Russian armed forces controlled the settlement."
The Russian Foreign Ministry had requested that a list of the dead in Bucha be sent but in December 2022, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that this demand had not been met.
Western media was not only silent on the Russian narrative, but it was also ignoring facts on the ground, such as Russia's forces being out of the town long before the violence took place.
In August 2022, the Russian Defense Ministry said that a Ukrainian attack with HIMARS on the Olenivka detention center in late July had killed 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war and injured 73.
The shelling, according to DPR leader Denis Pushilin, was deliberate.
Moscow is preparing to request data from UN experts and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the attack, the ministry added.
In September 2022, Russian First Deputy Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said that consideration for a UN delegation's mission to Olenivka was being agreed upon and that Russia for its part had done everything possible to make this investigation possible.
In January, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres disbanded the mission because the necessary conditions for its dispatch had not been created.
Read more: Ukraine accused of war crimes after firefighter killed during shelling
