The international community should investigate all facts of the abduction of children from Ukraine by Russia, without exception, in particular, with the help of the UN commission.
This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Annalena Berbok, speaking at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on February 27, reports the correspondent of Ukrinform.
"We will not rest until every child comes home, because child rights are human rights, and human rights are universal," Burbok said.
She noted that Russia took out many Ukrainian children during its war of aggression, which is "extremely disgusting."
The minister admitted that there is no quick and easy way to solve the problem, to stop such crimes, to prevent them. But this does not mean that one should give up, said Burbok.
On the contrary, she emphasized, the international community should raise its voice to protect the victims and bring criminals to justice.
"That is why it is extremely important and necessary for the Human Rights Council to extend the mandate of the Commission for the Investigation of Crimes and also give it the task of investigating each specific crime of abduction of Ukrainian children, because impunity leaves no room for justice. No one in the 21st century should be able to flout human rights without consequences," Burbok said.
She added that while progress in this work may often seem slow or insignificant, each resolution, each commission of inquiry created and each rapporteur appointed "is a brick that reinforces the wall between right and wrong."
The discussion at the session of the Human Rights Council on Monday focused mainly on Russia's violations of human rights in Ukraine. Germany supports the work of the Russian Crime Investigation Commission and, as part of a joint German-Dutch initiative, is also working on expanding its mandate to investigate the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia.
As reported, in March of last year, the UN Human Rights Council, responding to the first reports of war crimes and human rights violations by the Russian military in Ukraine, created the International Commission to Investigate Violations in Ukraine. The commission has already established the facts of the Russian military committing numerous war crimes in Ukraine.