19 June – International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict

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The International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violance in Conflict was established by a decision of the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 and was dedicated  to the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 1820 (2008) on 19 June 2008, in which sexual violence was declared unacceptable as a tactic of warfare and characterized as a significant obstacle to their peaceful settlement. The United Nations has condemned in the strongest terms all sexual and other violence committed in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, including rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy and sterilization, and any other form of sexual violence.

In the course of the armed conflict in the territory of Donbass, numerous cases of sexual violence by representatives of the armed formations and law enforcement agencies of Ukraine against the civilian population, prisoners of war and persons held for political reasons, including in the so-called “secret prisons”, were recorded. These facts are reflected in the periodic reports on the human rights situation in Ukraine, which are prepared by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

As a dangerous trend, UN representatives note that in the majority of cases these incidents do not receive proper investigation, and the perpetrators often go unpunished. This indicates the existence of significant systemic problems and is confirmed by the fact that the representatives of Ukraine in the framework of the Minsk negotiation process continue to block the signing of the Declaration on the condemnation of all forms of torture, ill-treatment, sexual violence and threats to use violence against persons detained in connection with conflict.

The Human Rights Ombudsman in the Donetsk People’s Republic takes a principled position on the inadmissibility of using illegal methods of influence to achieve any goals in a conflict. Within the framework of established interaction, information on relevant incidents and violations is brought to international organizations to form an objective assessment and implementation of actions aimed at combating, suppressing and preventing such practices on the part of Ukraine.