United Nations (EFE).- The UN has included Russia in the list with which every year it denounces the worst violators of children’s rights in conflict situations, in this case for their actions in the war in Ukraine.
On the list, seen by EFE this Thursday, the Russian Armed Forces and affiliated groups appear for the first time, to whom the United Nations attributes the death of more than a hundred minors and injuries to more than half a thousand during the year 2022.
In addition, the report denounces numerous Russian attacks against schools and hospitals, the use of children as “human shields” and the kidnapping of dozens of minors, but also acknowledges that Moscow took measures throughout the year to try to improve the situation.
The document, which is prepared annually by the UN General Secretariat, was delivered today to the Security Council and will be made public next week.
Russia, a novelty in the list
In addition to Russia, in the alarming list – whose concrete consequences are few beyond the public denunciation that it supposes – there are numerous States and armed groups responsible for serious violations of the rights of children in conflict situations.
These include the armies of Burma, Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, and South Sudan; together with terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, the rebel forces of various conflicts or the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The inclusion of Russia, however, is the main novelty and is a blow to a power with a permanent seat on the Security Council.
In the text, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, declares himself “outraged” by the high number of violations committed by Russia against children in Ukraine and demands that Moscow take measures to end them and hold those responsible accountable.
Russia’s inclusion on the list responds, according to the report, to the deaths and injuries caused by its attacks and the bombing of schools and hospitals, often a consequence of the use of powerful explosive weapons.
Call of attention for the kidnapping of children
The report also includes a warning to Ukraine for the same reasons, but does not include the Kiev forces on what some call a “shame list.”
In the case of Russia, the country appears in a section reserved for those who, having committed serious violations, have also taken steps to try to put an end to them.
In addition to the hundreds of dead children, the United Nations draws attention to the kidnapping and use of at least 91 minors as “human shields” by Russia and the transfer of dozens to its territory.
The data only refers to 2022 and includes only cases verified by the UN, which stresses that the real figures are undoubtedly much higher.