UN Human Rights Council 63: UK Statement for the Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner on the oral update on Ukraine
UK Statement for the Interactive Dialogue with the High Commissioner on the oral update on Ukraine. Delivered by the UK's Human Rights Ambassador, Eleanor Sanders.
Mr Vice-President,
The High Commissioner’s latest report sets out starkly the severity of sexual violence against Ukrainian prisoners of war. Sixty three percent of those interviewed reported conflict-related sexual violence at Russian hands. This included rape, genital mutilation, electric shocks and beatings to the genitals, and forced nudity - inflicted to strip prisoners of dignity and humiliate them before fellow captives and guards, sometimes over years.
Beyond captivity, the report shows how Russia is using sexual violence as an instrument of control - a weapon to enforce its occupation, terrorise communities, and assert dominance over Ukrainian civilians.
Chillingly, children have not been spared: the youngest documented rape survivor was four, and some women now bear children born of rape. These harms have profound and lasting consequences, underlining the need for child-sensitive, survivor-centred support and justice.
These findings may only offer a glimpse into the true scale of the crimes being committed.
Russia continues to refuse monitoring missions access to occupied territory, prisoners of war and detainees.
Russia has passed laws that grant servicepersons near total immunity for crimes committed during military service.
High Commissioner, based on the evidence available to your Office, to what extent can conflict-related sexual violence in Russian detention be understood as a systemic practice rather than a collection of individual crimes?
Thank you.