Photo: John Moore / Getty Images
For: EFE Updated 10 May 2022, 9: 05 am EDT
A UN observer mission suspects that “thousands of civilians” have died in Mariupol as a result of the Russian invasion, which they will be able to verify when they gain access to this city that has been largely destroyed.
The UN Human Rights Office has confirmed the death of about 3.400 civilians since the war began, “but the real figures are much higher, the great black hole is Mariúpol, where it is difficult to corroborate the information”, said the head of the observers, Matilda Bogner, at a press conference in Geneva.
“In terms of the entire country, all I can say is that there are thousands more (civilian deaths) than we have been able to verify so far” stated.
Bogner pointed out that in visits and tours of 14 localities in the kyiv and Chernigov regions UN observers collected information about the death of more than 300 men, women and children, particularly in areas north of the capital occupied by Russian troops until the end of March.
In these places, the mission of the UN Human Rights Office, led by High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, has collected evidence of murders, summary executions, torture and sexual violence.
“Each death is a tragedy. Depending on the circumstances, the death of a single civilian or someone not taking part in the fighting could be a war crime because they are persons protected under international law,” Boger said.
Some crimes were selective, but others were totally random, against people who were traveling in their vehicles or who tried to cross a street Snipers have also been known to shoot civilians with the apparent motive of deterring people from leaving their homes.
However, “it will take time to understand the full magnitude of what has happened, although what we have seen so far offers a clear idea of what the concerns are.
The UN mission has been working in Ukraine since 2014, after the outbreak of the conflict in the eastern Donbas region, bordering Russia and encouraged by this country through armed separatist groups to which it supplied weapons and mercenaries.
Currently, the mission has several offices in different locations and 55 observers in Ukraine, who have traveled to verify and document the destruction and crimes committed since the past 14 February, when where the war began.
Bogner said that ever since the way in which Russia has conducted hostilities has changed, as it has gone from initially attacking military targets to bombing populated areas with the consequent impact on the population.
The mission has not been able to directly collect information in the areas under Russian control or where the conflict is active.
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