UN Human Rights Council President Federico Villegas has appointed three members of a commission to investigate war crimes and other crimes committed by Russia during the war against Ukraine. Their tasks will include collecting and analyzing evidence of such violations and abuses.
This was reported by the UN Human Rights Council.
The establishment of an independent international commission to investigate Russia's crimes against Ukraine is stipulated by the Human Rights Council resolution 49/1 of March 4, 2022. The document notes that it will consist of three experts appointed by the president of the organization.
The commission's members are:
Erik Messe of Norway (chair), former head of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Rwanda Genocide;
Jasminka Djumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina, former judge and current human rights ombudsman in her country;
Pablo de Greiffa of Colombia is a former justice adviser to international organizations and director of the transitional justice program at New York University.
The Commission is to "collect, compile and analyze evidence of violations and abuses, including their gender dimension, and systematically record and preserve all information, documentation and evidence, such as interviews, testimony and forensic materials, in accordance with the standards of international law, taking into account any future litigation.
The Commission is established for one year. At the end of its work, it must submit an oral report in September 2022, and by March 2023 it must prepare a written report and submit it to the UN General Assembly.
Earlier, Michelle Bachelet, the organization's high commissioner for human rights, said that Russia's indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian territory could be equated with war crimes.