UKRAINIAN PEACE COUNCIL STATEMENT
on the occasion of Human Rights Day
On December 10, 1948, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which became the cornerstone of international human-rights law. Ukraine, one of the founding members of the U.N., participated in the development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Constitution of Ukraine has placed a human being at the center of the state's concern, recognizing his/her life and health, honor and dignity, as well as inviolability and security, as the highest social values.
Ukraine is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Declaration under conditions of armed aggression in its east and south, which has been ongoing since 2014, including the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and certain territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The armed aggression has resulted in thousands of victims and the mass violations of human rights. In particular, the violations of the right to life, health, security of person and liberty.
On April 30, 2023, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated that since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the committee has received reports of severe human rights violations including “instances and practices of excessive use of force, killings, extrajudicial and summary executions, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence”.
In its regular report dated October 20, 2023, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, established by the U.N. Human Rights Council in March 2022, stated that it had found new evidence that Russian invaders in Ukraine had committed war crimes and violations of international human rights, including torture, violence, and deportation of children. The report says interviews with victims and witnesses conducted by the commission illustrated a "profound disregard towards human dignity by Russian authorities."
Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reads to the effect that "Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized."
The aggressor country has violated the international order. Its officials and military, whose criminal acts led to the occupation of our territories and the outbreak of large-scale hostilities in the east, mass crimes against humanity, must be punished.
In consideration of the inalienable universal human rights principles and standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Ukrainian Peace Council calls upon the international community, all government agencies and the civil society of civilized nations to display political will and mobilize their efforts to protect human rights in Ukraine from inhuman invaders and secure peace in our country.