WUNRN
UKRAINE - CONTINUED CONFLICT - HEAVY
TOLL ON CIVILIANS - MANY HAD TO
LEAVE HOMES - HUMANITARIAN NEEDS OF
FOOD, WATER - WOMEN & CHILDREN
BBC Photo
UKRAINE - MISERY FOR WOMEN DRIVEN
FROM HOMES BY CONTINUED CONFLICT
By Diana Magnay and Laura
Smith-Spark, CNN
- 2014
Donetsk,
Ukraine (CNN) --
In the city of Donetsk, the devastation wrought by weeks of fighting between
pro-Russia rebels and Ukrainian forces is all too apparent.And as the civilians
caught in the crossfire sweep up the debris of their homes and livelihoods,
they are hardened against a president they say is killing his own
people.Alexander Omelyavenko, a Donetsk resident, told CNN, "We are
Ukrainian but they kill us, so we probably need our own country. Because these
people in Kiev, they are not brothers for us."
Another resident, Victoria
Khrushova, wiped away tears as she told how her family had been forced to hide
from the shelling in cellars."We live underground. It was so hard for two
weeks -- especially 27th, 28th, 29th -- but only today is quiet," she
said.The husband of a 34-year-old woman killed outside a block of flats last
Wednesday wouldn't talk to CNN, saying he was in shock. He made it down to the
cellar with their small child but she simply didn't have time. A 50-year-old
woman was killed with his wife.It's a story which repeats itself over and over
in dozens of apartment blocks, with civilians being killed by the constant
shelling around Donetsk. Windows are shattered, holes blasted in walls and
blackened rafters which once supported the roofs of homes stand in bleak
outline against the sky.
The victims are the human face
of a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding even as diplomatic efforts to curb the
fighting plow on.The United Nations' refugee agency, UNHCR, said Tuesday that
the number of people displaced in Ukraine by the fighting, particularly around
Donetsk and Luhansk, had more than doubled in less than a month.
While an estimated 117,000 had
fled their homes as of August 5, the agency puts the number displaced as of
September 1 at 260,000. UNHCR believes the actual number displaced is higher,
as many are staying with families and friends and choose not to register with
the authorities. Nearly 95% of those forced from their homes are from eastern
Ukraine and most remain in the region, its report said.
'Be human... Stop this war'
Donetsk, once-thriving, is now
half-empty, shop fronts shattered and its railway station bombed.Its trauma
hospital is filled with the civilian wounded who were unable to reach safety in
time as the shells rained down.
Medical teams treat market
traders with shrapnel embedded in their legs or the broken limbs of pensioners
too old or sick to run."There was one war and this is the second war. I
was born in 1940 in World War II and I will probably die before this war is
over," said elderly resident Valentina Sergeyevna.Valentina Popova, in the
ward next door, has lost her leg and her arm to indiscriminate artillery shells.
Switching to the Ukrainian
language, she made a heartrending plea to Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko."We used to dance, sing, do everything in Ukrainian. Poroshenko,
Mr. Poroshenko -- please listen to us. Why don't you understand your people? Be
a man. Be human. Please stop your aggression. Stop this war."Russia
accuses the Ukrainian government of precipitating the humanitarian crisis by
pursuing its campaign to regain territory seized by the rebels.Meanwhile,
Poroshenko and some Western allies have said thousands of Russian troops are in
his nation's east, helping the separatists.
NATO members meeting this week
in Wales are expected to create "a very high-readiness force" to deal with
Russian aggression in Ukraine and other international conflicts, NATO Secretary
General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday.European Union leaders are expected
to decide on further sanctions against Russia over its actions in Ukraine by
Friday, Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini said Tuesday.
Lavrov: 'Let us sit down and
talk'
Though Russia has denied
sending its troops to Ukraine, it has defended the rebels' action in the
east."Washington and Brussels need to ask Kiev authorities to stop
shelling the houses, schools, hospitals and so on because you leave militia
with no choice but to stand up to protect their people," Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov said."Let's not ask militia to lay down their
weapons and allow themselves to be killed."Lavrov said negotiations, not
threats, would help resolve the crisis between the two neighbors."Let us
sit down and talk instead of threatening with sanctions and stubbornly making
absolutely unrealistic demands of the militia laying down arms," he said.
"This is what the peace plan of Poroshenko is about."The continued
fighting means it's difficult for humanitarian workers to assess the full scope
of the crisis, the UNHCR said in its report, while damage to roads and other
infrastructure makes it hard to get aid in.
As of September 1, some 2.2
million people remained in conflict areas according to the Ukrainian
authorities, the agency said, many with limited access to food, water, and
other basic necessities.
"In Donetsk, Makiivka and
Gorlovka the regional authorities estimate there are 20,000 people with
disabilities and needing help," it said. "In Luhansk, residents have
been without proper supplies of food and water, and dealing with electricity
shortages and communications problems for a month."The number of people
using "humanitarian corridors" set up by the authorities to flee has
dropped off since a number of civilians died in attacks, the UNHCR said.
Statehood question?
Russia annexed Ukraine's
Crimean Peninsula in March following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych
the previous month.Violence broke out in the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk
regions in April when separatist leaders declared independence from the
government in Kiev.Since then, the conflict between the pro-Russia rebels and
the Ukrainian military has killed more than 2,500 people, according to the
United Nations.
A Human Rights Watch report
released Monday claimed "unlawful government and insurgent attacks"
in and around Luhansk were contributing to rising civilian casualties.It cited
a Luhansk morgue doctor as saying explosive weapons have killed more than 300
civilians in the city since May. HRW researchers spoke to more than a dozen
people who had witnessed artillery, mortar or rocket attacks in civilian areas.
"Many of the attacks
appeared to be indiscriminate, in that they did not or could not distinguish
between civilians and combatants," the rights group said.
"Indiscriminate attacks violate international humanitarian law, or the
laws of war."A report last week by the Office of the U.N. High
Commissioner for Human Rights documented "a wide array of serious human
rights abuses" committed primarily by the rebel fighters.
Violations have also been
committed by members of the Ukrainian military as they try to recapture
rebel-held territory, it said.
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Protracted Conflict in Eastern Ukraine Takes Heavy Toll on
Civilians - UN
GENEVA (8 October 2014) – In
spite of a fragile ceasefire over the past month in the east of Ukraine, the protracted
conflict continues to kill and wound civilians, and deprive the more than five
million residents in areas directly affected by the violence of their basic
human rights, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said
Wednesday as he released the latest report on the human rights situation in the
country.
While there has been an absence
of large-scale offensive actions since the ceasefire was announced on 5
September, in some areas artillery, tank and small arms exchanges have continued
on an almost daily basis, such as in Donetsk airport, in the Debaltseve area in
Donetsk region, and in the town of Shchastya in Luhansk region.
From mid-April to 6 October, at
least 3,660 people were killed and 8,756 wounded in eastern Ukraine, the UN
Human Rights Office said Wednesday as it released the report.* Since the
ceasefire began, between 6 September and 6 October, at least 331 fatalities
were recorded, although some of the individuals may have been killed prior to
the ceasefire, with the data only recorded later.
“While the ceasefire is a very
welcome step towards ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine, I call on all
parties to genuinely respect and uphold it, and to halt the attacks on
civilians and civilian infrastructure once and for all,” High Commissioner Zeid
said.
“For almost half a year,
residents of the areas affected by the armed conflict have been deprived of
their fundamental rights to education, to adequate healthcare, to housing and
to opportunities to earn a living. Further prolongation of this crisis will
make the situation untenable for the millions of people whose daily lives have
been seriously disrupted.”
Nearly 40,000 small and medium
businesses in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions have ceased activity due to the
fighting, leaving thousands without income.
While some internally displaced
people have returned home, data released by the State Emergency Service
suggests that as of 2 October, there were 375,792 internally displaced people
(IDPs) in Ukraine.* Those who have returned home face serious difficulties
besides the volatile security situation, the report notes, with private
property destroyed or damaged, as well as water shortages and limited access to
healthcare. Expected gas shortages are particularly worrying, with winter
coming and many IDPs living in ill-equipped temporary shelters.
The report of the 35-strong UN
Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, which covers the period from 18
August to 16 September, notes that between 24 August and 5 September, armed
groups of the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s
republic’ were bolstered by an increasing number of foreign fighters, including
citizens believed to be from the Russian Federation.
“During the reporting period,
international humanitarian law, including the principles of military necessity,
distinction, proportionality and precaution continued to be violated by armed
groups and some units and volunteer battalions under the control of the Ukrainian
armed forces,” the report states, referring to daily reports of skirmishes,
shelling and fighting. “Armed groups continued to terrorise the population in
areas under their control, pursuing killings, abductions, torture,
ill-treatment and other serious human rights abuses, including destruction of
housing and seizure of property. There have also been continued allegations of
human rights violations committed by some volunteer battalions under Government
control.”
Between 24 August and 5
September, there was also a sharp increase in detentions by the armed groups,
and there were alarming reports of torture and ill-treatment of detainees,
including mock executions and sexual violence. There were also reports of
ill-treatment of those detained by Ukrainian armed forces and police.
“With the shift in control of
territory during the reporting period between Government forces and the armed
groups, the risk of reprisals against individuals for collaborating with ‘the
enemy’ or for such perceived collaboration has increased,” the report notes.
High Commissioner Zeid stressed
that all violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations
of international humanitarian law must be scrupulously investigated and
prosecuted, including the indiscriminate shelling of civilians, killings,
allegations of sexual violence, the illegal seizure of property and the
ill-treatment of detainees. Zeid expressed deep concern about the lack of rule
of law in the areas held by the armed groups.
“This is a call for justice,
not retribution. All parties must ensure that there are no reprisals for
perceived collaboration or affiliation with an opposing camp,” the High
Commissioner said, referring to the report’s documentation of increased
tensions between residents and IDPs in some areas, mostly due to growing
distrust fuelled by suspicions of potential connections with opposing groups.
“It is crucial for the authorities to defuse such tensions,” he said.
The report notes that two laws
adopted on 16 September, pending the President’s signature, have the potential
to “play a critical role in reconciliation and creating an environment for
sustainable peace.” One is the law on the prevention of persecution and
punishment of participants of events on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk
regions, which provides for an amnesty in connection with the conflict, apart
from some grave offences. The other law offers special status to parts of the
Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The report stresses that strategies for the
implementation of both laws should be developed with the participation of
victims and civil society.
The High Commissioner also
called for prompt adoption of the draft IDP law, which is under review by
Parliament, so as to allow the provision of basic services, including
healthcare, education and employment.
In the Autonomous Republic of
Crimea, the human rights situation continued to be marked by multiple and
ongoing violations, the report notes, including the curtailment of the freedoms
of expression, peaceful assembly, association, and of religion or belief, and
increasing intimidation of Crimean Tatars under the pretext of combating
extremism.
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