Over 6,400 killed in Ukraine: UN

Over 6,400 people had been killed so far in conflict-ravaged Ukraine and despite a slowdown in fighting there are alarming reports of severe violations of human rights by armed groups and government, which, if confirmed would constitute war crimes, the UN on Monday said.

The UN human rights office, in a latest report, said that between mid-April 2014 and May 30 this year at least 6,417 people, including 626 women and girls, have been documented as killed and 15,962 as wounded in the conflict zone of eastern Ukraine. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) warned that this could be a conservative estimate and the actual numbers could be considerably higher. The latest report, which covers the period from mid-February to mid-May, documented severe violations of human rights in eastern Ukraine by both armed groups and the Ukrainian government.

“The mission has also documented a number of summary executions, particularly perpetrated by the armed groups. We are following up on these cases, including some allegations of summary executions perpetrated by Ukrainian armed forces. 

These allegations are extremely alarming and if confirmed, they would represent clear evidence of war crimes,” said Ivan Simonovic, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights releasing the report.

The tenth report by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said that civilians are facing serious rights abuses including killings, torture and ill-treatment, as well as detention, forced labour, looting, ransom demands and extortion. “While there are allegations of torture, ransoms and executions against armed groups, on the governmental side there are allegations of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, executions etc, hitting 5 million people in conflict-affected areas,” it said.