WHO gathers evidence for possible war crimes investigation against Russia
KYIV (Reuters) -The World Well being Group (WHO) is gathering proof for a attainable conflict crimes investigation into assaults it says it has documented by Russia on healthcare services in Ukraine, it stated in Kyiv on Saturday.
WHO Emergencies Director Mike Ryan, on an unannounced go to along with WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, instructed a information convention it was the express duty of fighters to keep away from attacking well being services, but the WHO had already documented 200 assaults on hospitals and clinics within the nation.
“Intentional assaults on healthcare services are a breach of worldwide humanitarian legislation and as such – primarily based on investigation and attribution of the assault – characterize conflict crimes in any state of affairs,” Ryan stated.
“We proceed to doc and bear witness to those assaults … and we belief that the U.N. system and the Worldwide Felony Courtroom and others will take the mandatory investigations to be able to assess the felony intent behind these assaults.”
Russia has denied earlier accusations by Ukraine and Western nations of attainable conflict crimes and has additionally denied focusing on civilians within the conflict.
Ryan stated the 200 circumstances didn’t characterize the totality of assaults on Ukrainian medical services, solely these the WHO had verified. Kyiv has stated there have been round 400 such assaults since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated on Thursday that Russian troops had destroyed or broken practically 400 healthcare establishments in Ukraine.
Tedros instructed the identical information convention: “My message to all of the folks of Ukraine is that this: ‘WHO stands by you’ … We proceed to name on the Russian Federation to cease this conflict.”
WHO member states will on Tuesday take into account a decision in opposition to Russia that features the attainable closure of a serious regional workplace in Moscow, a doc obtained by Reuters confirmed final Thursday.
The draft decision stops in need of harsher sanctions resembling suspending Russia from the U.N. world well being company’s board, in addition to a brief freeze of its voting rights, three diplomatic and political sources stated.
The draft, ready largely by EU diplomats and submitted to the WHO’s regional workplace for Europe this week, follows a request by Ukraine signed by at the least 38 different members together with Turkey, France and Germany.
Moscow calls its actions since Feb. 24 a “particular army operation” to disarm Ukraine and rid it of what it calls anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West. Ukraine and the West say Russia launched an unprovoked conflict of aggression.
(Writing by Kevin Liffey; Modifying by Andrew Cawthorne and David Holmes)
