Nearly 1,000 killed during Ukraine ceasefire, says UN
Human rights watchdog says 957 people have died since peace pact was signed in September, with abuses on both sides
Agence France-Presse in Kiev-Thursday 20 November 2014
Almost 1,000 people have been killed in Ukraine since a ceasefire in September, an average of 13 people a day, according to the UN.
A report from the organisation’s human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine puts the death toll at 957 from 5 September, when the peace pact was signed, to 18 November.
“The list of victims keeps growing. Civilians, including women, children, minorities and a range of vulnerable individuals and groups continue to suffer the consequences of the political stalemate in Ukraine,” the UN high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, said.
In total, more than 4,300 combatants and civilians have been killed in eastern Ukraine since pro-Russian rebels seized border regions in April, the UN said. That figure includes the 298 people who died in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July.
The report also detailed rights abuses on both sides. One Ukrainian soldier said his right arm, bearing a “Glory to Ukraine” tattoo, had been severed with an axe by rebels. A separatist detained by Ukrainian forces in Donetsk said he was nearly suffocated with a plastic bag and repeatedly beaten.
The UN also highlighted the huge number of people registered as displaced by the conflict, from 275,489 in mid-September to 466,829 on Wednesday.
The Kremlin denies western and Ukrainian accusations that it is arming the separatist rebels with troops and military equipment, as diplomatic relations plunge to a low not seen since the cold war.
The US vice president, Joe Biden, is due in Kiev for talks on Thursday, a day before the anniversary of the start of the Maidan protests against the former pro-Kremlin regime.
