UN committee denounces anti-Ukrainian racism in Russia

The United Nations Office at Geneva (Illustrative image). © EyeEm - Paul Hauf/Getty Images

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Russia has again been singled out by the UN for human rights violations. This time it is the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. A panel of experts related to human rights. They denounce "incitement to racial hatred and the propagation of racist stereotypes against Ukrainians".

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The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is one of the most consensual texts of international law. Almost all countries have ratified it. Russia even did it before the France and the United States, reports our correspondent in Geneva, Jérémie Lanche.

Except that Moscow is blithely violating its obligations in the context of the conflict in Ukraine. In their report, the experts denounce the spread of hate speech against Ukrainians by Russian officials and in the media; the over-representation of ethnic minorities among soldiers sent to the front; torture and extrajudicial executions of Ukrainians who fell into the hands of the Russian army and paramilitary forces, the Wagner militia.

In its concluding observations on Russia, the committee expressed "deep concern" about "incitement to racial hatred and the dissemination of racist stereotypes against ethnic Ukrainians, in particular on public radio and television, on the internet and social media, as well as by public figures and government officials".

► Read also: Russian propaganda behind fake newspaper covers

Deportation of Ukrainian children

The committee also refers to the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russian territory. They would be thousands. However, the committee is careful not to put forward a figure. As is often the case, human rights experts have worked almost blindly: Russia has simply refused to answer them on the Ukrainian conflict.

The committee also found that the definition of "terrorist activities" in the Russian legislative framework was "excessively broad and vague." Such a vague definition "jeopardizes the legitimate exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and association" and "is applied to target the operations and activities of civil society organizations, journalists and human rights defenders," they said.

► Read also: Russia: citizens on the hunt for spies

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Read on on the same topics:

• Russia
• Ukraine
• UN
• Human rights
• Racism