The United Nations said Monday that
more than 6,400 people had been killed in conflict-wracked Ukraine, and
despite a slowdown in fighting, millions more are suffering from abuses
and hardship.
The conflict between pro-Russian rebels and government troops in eastern Ukraine has claimed more than 6,417 lives.
In its latest report, the UN human
rights office noted that an overall decrease in indiscriminate shelling
since a fragile truce was agreed in Minsk in February had resulted in a
decrease in civilian casualties.
But nonetheless, at least 6,417 people
perished from the beginning of the conflict in mid-April 2014 through
May 30, 2015, including at least 626 women and girls, while another
15,962 had been wounded, it said.
"This is a conservative estimate and the actual numbers could be considerably higher," the rights office said in a statement.
Some five million others are meanwhile
suffering the consequences of the conflict, including 1.2 million people
who have been displaced inside the war-ravaged country, the report
said.
"Even with the decrease in hostilities,
civilians continue to be killed and wounded," UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said.
"We have documented alarming reports of
summary executions by armed groups and are looking into similar
allegations against Ukrainian armed forces," he said, also decrying
"horrific accounts of torture and ill-treatment in detention" by both
sides.
Civilians in the areas under the control
of armed groups are facing "serious rights abuses", including
"killings, torture and ill-treatment", as well as detention, "forced
labour, looting, ransom demands and extortion," the report said.
The latest report, which covers the
period from February 16 to May 15 this year stressed that the shelling
had not stopped altogether.
Combat between Ukrainian troops and
pro-Russian armed groups was also continuing, and civilians were still
dying from landmines and unexploded ordnance, it said.
"While some areas in the conflict zone
have remained calm, such as the city of Lugansk, others have become the
scenes of escalating hostilities since April 11," it said.
The area around the airport in rebel
stronghold Donetsk and in the contested village of Shyrokyne, near the
strategic port city of Mariupol, remained "major flashpoints" where
heavy weapons were being used "intensively".
The human rights office also cited
reports that Russia was continuing to send heavy weaponry and foreign
fighters into the conflict-hit areas, a claim Moscow denies.
"The withdrawal of foreign fighters and
the cessation of the flow of weapons from the Russian Federation would
have a significant impact on law and order and the implementation of
other provisions of the Minsk Agreements," the report said.
Source: AFP