Russia's war on Ukraine will be felt for 'generations'

BET À DAY

The scale of the destruction inflicted by Russia on Ukraine will be felt in the rights of generations to come, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said on Tuesday.

“The war in Ukraine has led to civilian casualties and destruction on a shocking scale,” Turk said during his speech at the Human Rights Council session in Geneva.< /p>

“The rights of Ukrainians will be affected for generations to come, and the impact of the war on fuel and food prices, as well as geopolitical tensions, penalize the population of all regions of the world”, a- he said.

“The fact that such damage could once again be caused around the world by a war in Europe is a betrayal of the promises of change” made in the aftermath of World War II. world, he said again.

Mr. Turk also expressed his concern about the trends observed in Russia.

He cited the closure of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and that of the oldest human rights organization, the Helsinki Group of Moscow, seeing it as “a new sign of the end of the Russian public space”.

“The constant pro-war messages on the public media feed stereotypes and stir up hatred and violence”, he said.

He pointed out that more than 180 criminal investigations had been opened in Russia on charges of defaming the armed forces, with a journalist and a city deputy among those already convicted.

“As of December, any person or entity deemed to be 'under foreign influence' – a vague qualification – can be designated a 'foreign agent' and subject to numerous restrictions,” he said. he recalled.

He also referred to legislation cracking down on the “propaganda of unrelated relationships t raditionnelles”, extended to any information on sexual minorities.