As the United Nations publishes today a report documenting Russia's violations of human rights and humanitarian law and discriminatory policies that force Ukrainians to leave the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, I reiterate my position that peace negotiations, notably when addressing territorial issues, should not ignore the profound and irreparable suffering of Ukrainians living under Russian occupation.
Experience has shown that each time Russia's occupation expands to new Ukrainian territories, patterns of grave human rights violations and international crimes are repeated and intensified, while impunity for these violations and crimes remains pervasive.
The UN report confirms that Ukrainians living under occupation endure blatant violations of their human rights and multi-layered pressure to abandon their homes and identities. The violations include the imposition of Russian citizenship to maintain access to rights such as the right to healthcare and to property, severe restrictions on freedom of expression and the militarisation and indoctrination of children in schools.
These actions come alongside other gross violations of human rights as documented, for example, in other UN reports and the Council of Europe Secretary General's regular reports on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The violations include illegal detention, enforced disappearances, torture, unlawful prosecutions, deportation of civilians, including children and the persecution of peaceful dissidents. I deplore the continued lack of safe and unfettered physical access to the temporarily occupied territories for regional and international human rights organisations.
Many Ukrainians who have fled the temporarily occupied territories to government-controlled areas or abroad are now cut off from loved ones who remain behind, unable to visit their homes, maintain regular contact, or secure safe reunification. Humanitarian corridors are crucial to enable the restoration of ties with Ukrainian society and to facilitate the freedom of movement of Ukrainians who have refused Russian citizenship.
I note that in addition to the direct and indirect forcible transfer or deportation of Ukrainians out of the temporarily occupied territories, there have been reports of new plans by Russia to continue massive transfer of its own citizens there. I observe that the forcible transfer or deportation of a civilian population out of an occupied territory and the transfer by the occupying authorities of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies constitute war crimes and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions under international law.
International law further demands that occupying authorities protect the populations under their control. The imposition of citizenship, property confiscation, and repression of dissent must never be normalised or tolerated. These violations also undermine the right of all persons displaced by the conflict to return to their homes in conditions of safety and dignity.
As peace negotiations continue, I reiterate my call that all those involved keep at the centre of their considerations the human rights violations and human suffering brought about by occupation. In this respect, I fully support the UN report's call: "The international community should ensure that peace negotiations include the meaningful consideration of the situations and interests of displaced persons and address specifically their voluntary, safe and dignified return to places of origin in occupied territory, with full respect for their human rights and international humanitarian law."
Lasting peace cannot be achieved by sidelining victims and allowing gross violations of human rights.
