Geneva, 28 February 2022 (TDI): At 49th HRC, the statement made by Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, Gennady Gatilov, on holding urgent debates regarding the situation in Ukraine. The statement was delivered on February 28.
Statement of Gennady Gatilov at 49th HRC
Mr. President,
We are disappointed by the attempts of a number of delegations to once again fuel the flames of confrontation in the Council. The topic proposed for discussion during the supposed urgent debates has nothing to do with genuine concern for the protection of human rights in Ukraine.
We are facing nothing more than another attempt by Kiev to divert the attention of the international community from deliberate extermination of innocent civilians in Donetsk and Luhansk – women, children, and the elderly, which has been raging for almost eight years.
The woeful outcome of this inhumane policy is well-known – tens of thousands of human lives, hundreds of thousands of twisted human fates – people forced to live in daily fear for their lives and the lives of their children for many years. For eight years Kiev continued to bomb its own citizens and evade direct dialogue with Donbass while hypocritically declaring its alleged commitment to the Minsk Agreements.
Moreover, all this happened along with demonstrative silence of Western curators, who are so fond of talking about high human rights issues. A reasonable question arises: where have you been, dear Western colleagues, all these years?
Why didn’t you raise your voice at the HRC when civilians were dying in Donbass? When a rabid mob of nationalists burned innocent people alive in the building of the Trade Unions House in Odessa, when the Ukrainian artillery conducted targeted shelling on hospitals and schools turned into bomb shelters?
@GGatilov at the 49th Session of the @UN_HRC
💬A reasonable question arises: where have you been, dear Western colleagues, all these 8 years? Why didn’t you raise your voice at the #HRC when civilians were dying in #Donbass?
📄 full statement: https://t.co/SaHQv06hs1 pic.twitter.com/qZ8cIwSJj5
— Russian Mission in Geneva (@mission_russian) February 28, 2022
Instead of bringing the Ukrainian authorities to reason, forcing them to finally establish a direct conversation with their residents in the South-East of the country, the collective West only fanned the flames of the internal Ukrainian conflict, encouraging nationalist sentiments and gearing the Kiev regime with weapons.
All this was accompanied and is accompanied by lengthy discussions, including these very walls, about the concern for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. I will not delve into this topic, because the UN Human Rights Council is simply not authorized to discuss issues of territorial affiliation.
Our repeated signals to Kiev and its Western puppeteers about the need to stop the violence in Donbass, to implement the Minsk Agreements were ignored. Even after Russia recognized the independence of these republics, the shelling did not stop, but rather greatly intensified.
They continue. In these circumstances, a decision was made to conduct a special operation meant to stop the tragedy in Ukraine. We were left with no other choice. This operation has precise goals and does not target civilian objects.
The Russian Federation has consistently advocated and continues to advocate an honest and depoliticized dialogue on the human rights situation in Ukraine. We are more interested than anyone in normalizing the situation in this country, in ensuring that the brotherly Ukrainian people live in peace and harmony.
However, such a discussion should be conducted on an equal basis with an honest attitude to all existing problems. It is quite obvious that the urgent debates that are proposed to be held during the current session of the HRC will clearly not contribute to this.
In this regard, the Russian Federation opposes their holding and requests a vote on this issue.
Thank you for your attention.
