France, Paris, 14 Avenue de l’Opera, 75001  
Ukraine, Kyiv, 56 Kharkivske highroad, 02175
arcconstructionofcrimea@gmail.com
25.11.2022 № 529/2022
UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
Russian aggression against Ukraine and duty to investigate crimes of torture
Our Association of Reintegration of Crimea, is non-governmental expert and human rights organisation, our expert researches are related with human rights and humanitarian issues, including their fundamental rights, also as with issues of the transitional justice for Crimean peninsula, with relevant humanitarian, informational, economic, social and financial impacts. Since 2020 we sent more than 70 submissions and proposals to UN human rights’ strictures, major part of them were published in the official web-sources. Our experts researched the issues of negative consequenses the Russian aggression against Ukraine, including tortures and degrading treatment. 
As it is well-known, since 24th of February 2022 Russia committed broad and open military aggression against Ukraine. Due last nine months of fights Russia occupied some territories of Donetzk, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and other regions and strong fights are going near cities with total population more than 2 millions persons near the frontline 
Russia-controlled troops and mercenaries committed in Ukraine, during this invasion, gross violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights’ law already, including broad crimes against property, social and cultural rights and environment, attacks on medics, teachers, and journalists, social, medical, educational and informational infrastructure, and incuding tortures and degrading treatment and punishment. 
All war crimes, committed by Russian invaders during ongoing hostilities, including tortures and degrading treatment and punishment, are connected with absolutely clear Russia’s war targets in maximal destruction the Ukrainian state and social systems. Those issues now are the subject of the investigation the International Criminal Court Due to gross violation the human rights Ukraine filed an application to the European Court of Human Rights also. Russian government refused to execute the demand of the ECtHR and the order of ICJ to immediately suspend the military operations that it commenced on 24 February 2022. 
On March 16 2022, Russia was excluded from the Council of Europe and refused officially to execute the demands of European Convention on Human Rights that guarantees right to not to be tortures and duty of state to investigate the tortures. Obligations of Russia regarding this Convention were stopped in Autumn, 2022 but the demands of European Convention for the prevention of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are still in force fro Russia, and it must execute them (but does not execute) on the Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine. 
UN Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted its resolution 49/1 on 4 March 2022 where it expressed grave concern at the documented harm to the enjoyment of many human rights, resulting from the aggression against Ukraine by Russia. 
On 8 March 2022 UN human rights experts called on Russia to immediately end its invasion of Ukraine to avoid further bloodshed; experts recalled that intentional attacks against civilian objects amount to war crimes. In other UN experts’ statements the negative impact of Russia’s aggression on persons with disabilities and older persons was condemned, and relevant risks for women’s rights were pointed. UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing expressed on 9th of March the grave concerns about the serious violations of the right to adequate housing in Ukraine.
On 6 May 2022 UN human rights experts and the Global Protection Cluster Coordinator issued a statement alarming by the scale of displacement in Ukraine where pointed that alongside displaced people in Ukraine, the estimated 13 million people who are stranded in areas affected by the conflict are experiencing acute risks as well.
UN General Assembly in its resolution ES-11/1 on 2 March 2022 recognized that the military operations of Russia inside the sovereign territory of Ukraine are on a scale that the international community has not seen in Europe in decades and that urgent action is needed to save this generation from the scourge of war. In article 9 of this resolution UN General Assembly demanded to protect civilians, including persons in vulnerable situations.
UN General Assembly in its resolution ES-11/2 on 24 March 2022, articles 5 and 8, demanded again full respect for and protection of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population and civilian infrastructure that is critical to the delivery of essential services in armed conflict; stressed that the sieges of cities in Ukraine further aggravate the humanitarian situation for the civilian population and hamper evacuation efforts, and therefore demands to put an end to sieges. 
On 7 April 2022 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution ES-11/3 calling for Russia to be suspended from the Human Rights Council. 
The UN Human Rights Council adopted on 12th of May a resolution on the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine where pointed that Russia should immediately cease its aggression, withdraw all its forces from the whole territory of Ukraine, and provide international human rights and humanitarian institutions with unhindered, immediate and safe access to persons transferred from conflict-affected areas.
Those decisions are not executed by Russian troops, Russia-controlled mercenaries and terroristic groups, which established policy or terror and repressions over the Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine, especially in Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions.
Russian troops, fake “military-civil administrations” and “military commandant’s offices” created by Russian invaders in Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions use actively the practice of tortures of local civil population, including persons who tried to evacuate themselves from hostilities zones. 
The main challenges for investigating the tortures in Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine are connected with absence of access to such territories as for Ukraine’s legal enforcement bodies, so for the representatives of the international organizations and bodies. Russia-controlled structures make any “investigation” regarding tortures, committed on those territories.
When some Ukraine’s territories were de-occupied, as it happened with parts of Kyiv Region in April-May, 2022, of Kharkiv Region in September, 2022 and Kherson Region in November, 2022 the issues of investigating tortures were complicated with limited number of forensic equipment and police and special service’s officers. 
All Ukraine’s attempts for the peace-building, including peace talks and negotiations with Russian government were unsuccessful and Russia rejects all peace propositions and it refuses to execute the demands of ICJ and ECtHR orders to stop the aggression and hostilities that are directly pointed against the Ukrainians’ rigths to life, freedom, movement, health and not to become a victim of tortures. 
We hope that above-pointed special statements of the UN experts and rapporteurs regarding situation in Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine must be supported by next UN HRC’s and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights’ official positions. Our Association believes that urgent, immediate steps of the UN OHCHR bodies must be done; monitoring procedure, mentioned in UN HRC resolution 49/1, must be enforced immediately. 
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment must enforce his co-operation with European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on those issues.

25th of November, 2022                                                                            Representative of the ARC
Dr. Borys Babin