The Power Within: The Kyiv Independent’s first-ever magazine. Be among the first to get it.

pre-order now
Skip to content
Edit post

NGOs file 'groundbreaking' complaint to UN human rights body over Russia's aggression

by Martin Fornusek July 10, 2024 2:24 PM 3 min read
A rescuer clears the rubble next to a heavily damaged building in central Vinnytsia on July 15, the day after Russian missile attack. (Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

The Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ), Legal Action Worldwide, and Truth Hounds said on July 10 they had filed a "landmark complaint" to the U.N. Human Rights Committee over a Russian missile attack against Vinnytsia in 2022.

Representing families of 18 Ukrainian victims, the NGOs said that the case could set a precedent applicable to thousands more civilians killed during Russia's full-scale war.

Twenty-nine people were killed and hundreds injured in a Russian missile attack against Vinnytsia on July 14, 2022, a city in central Ukraine hundreds of kilometers from the front line.

The complaint argued that the attack violated the victims' right to life, which is covered by the U.N. Human Rights Committee's General Comment 36. The complaint's authors' conclusion was based on a field and open-source investigation carried out by CFJ and its partners, as well as an extensive legal analysis.

The General Comment 36 states that "the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) recognizes and protects the right to life of all human beings" and that all "States parties must respect the right to life."

Both Russia and Ukraine are ICCPR's signatories.

"This innovative case was developed over two years of investigation and legal analysis," said Anya Neistat, the legal director of CFJ's The Docket initiative, cited in a joint press release.

"If our arguments are accepted by the Human Rights Committee, the complaint will set a worldwide precedent, advance accountability for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and offer a measure of justice to the families of all those killed in aggressive war."

Opinion: The children’s hospital attack highlights the failure of American empathy
Russia launched a mass missile attack across several Ukrainian cities on July 8, killing 31 people and injuring at least 117 in Kyiv alone. One of the attack sites was the Okhmatdyt hospital, Ukraine’s largest children’s medical center. While no children were killed at the center itself, four

The complained called on the U.N. body to bring justice to the families of the victims of the Vinnytsia attack by judging Russia's actions as unlawful and in violation of their right to life, as well as ordering the payment of reparatiors to the families.

"A favorable decision from the Committee will mean that the victims of the attack are no longer just ‘collateral damage' of military action," said Roman Avramenko, the executive director of Truth Hounds.

"It will recognize that their rights have been violated and that they are entitled to redress. The U.N. Human Rights Committee should not miss this opportunity to take action based on its own principles."

"Nothing will bring our loved ones back," said 40-year-old Yaroslav, whose wife was killed and seven-year-old son severely injured by the strike.

"But we are determined to do everything we can to bring justice to them, and countless others, who are still being killed in Ukraine every day."

The attack on Vinnytsia was only one of many deadly strikes Russia carried out against Ukrainian cities. Earlier this week, a massive missile strike killed dozens across the country, including at least 33 residents of Kyiv.

News Feed

8:06 AM

Zelensky arrives in South Africa to meet President Ramaphosa.

"We count on South Africa’s meaningful participation in the International Coalition for the return of thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia. We will also certainly strengthen our cultural and educational ties," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
5:30 AM

Trump says he may meet Putin 'shortly' after May Middle East visit.

Despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Trump and Putin have yet to have direct contact, communicating only through their officials. Trump's last in-person encounter with his Russian counterpart was during the 2018 Helsinki Summit during the U.S. president's first term.
8:08 PM

Ukrainians react to US proposal of recognizing Crimea as Russian.

The U.S. media outlet Axios reported on April 23 that the U.S. President Donald Trump administration's final proposal for ending the Russia-Ukraine war included the U.S. de jure recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea and de facto recognizing its control of other occupied Ukrainian territories. We asked Kyiv residents for their reactions to the U.S. proposal.
7:21 PM  (Updated: )

Trump says 'nobody is asking' Ukraine to recognize Crimea as Russian.

"Nobody is asking (President Volodymyr) Zelensky to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory, but if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?" U.S. President Donald Trump wrote.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.