US reports to United Nations that Moscow has lists of Ukrainians 'to be killed or sent to camps' following a military occupation
Russia plans to carry out a host of human rights abuses - including targeted killings, kidnappings, torture and forced disappearances - against ethnic minorities, gays and journalists after it invades Ukraine, according to a frantic letter penned to the UN Human Rights Commission.
US Ambassador to the UN Bathsheba Nell Crocker dashed off a one-page missive to UN High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet as an 'early warning' that the war in Eastern Europe would 'create a human rights catastrophe.'
'I would like to bring to your attention disturbing information recently obtained by the United States that indicates that human rights violations and abuses in the aftermath of further invasion are being planned,' Crocker wrote in an undated letter that was first reported by the Washington Post.
Top US diplomat Bathsheba Nell Crocker said that gays, journalists and ethnic and religious minorities will be targeted for abuse if Russia invades Ukraine
Russian armored tanks painted with a letter 'Z' and huge convoys are moving towards the Ukraine border. It is suspected the markings have been allocated for specific roles amid rising tensions over an imminent invasion - as shelling rocked the east of the country
Russia has amassed 190,000 troops on the border and U.S. intelligence reports indicated that President Vladimir Putin intends to invade
Abuses have already been documented in Crimea, which was invaded and annexed in 2014 and other parts of Russia controlled Ukraine. '[We] have every reason to believe those concerns will multiply following a new military offensive,' she wrote.
Russia has amassed 190,000 troops on the border and U.S. intelligence reports indicated that President Vladimir Putin intends to invade.
UN Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet was told that Russia plans torture, assassinations, kidnapping and imprisonment of targeted Ukrainians
Crocker said that Russia plans to target anyone who opposes their military intervention.
'These acts, which in past Russian operations have included targeted killings, kidnappings/forced disappearances, unjust detentions, and the use of torture, would likely target those who oppose Russian actions, including Russian and Belarussian dissidents in exile in Ukraine, journalists and anti-corruption activists, and vulnerable populations such as religious and ethnic minorities and LGBTQI+ persons,' Croker warned.
She said that Russian operatives were creating lists of names of Ukrainians to be assassinated or sent to camps.
Peaceful protests from the civilian population will be met with lethal force, the letter says.
More than 200 people - including civilians - are being held captive in the facilities found in eastern Ukraine, close to the Russian border, rights groups say.
The conflict known as the War in Donbas has raged since 2014 and left the former Soviet-state split, and has resulted in the death of more than 13,000 people and to roughly 1.1 million people fleeing their homes.
Former nuclear bunkers in Ukraine have been used by Putin-backed thugs to hold and torture, civil rights groups claim.
No comments: