UN Mission to Ukraine Recognizes Effectiveness of New Ceasefire Measures in Donbas

KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2020) The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) acknowledges the efficiency of the additional ceasefire measures implemented in Donbas this summer and urged the sides to further observe the truce, the mission's head, Matilda Bogner, said on Tuesday.

On July 27, new measures to maintain the ceasefire, which include a blanket ban on deploying military equipment or using drones in reconnaissance, sabotage or offensive operations in sensitive locations, entered into force. The sides also agreed on a mechanism for holding violators to account.

"OHCHR [Office of the High Commissioner for Human Right] welcomes the fact that the package of additional measures to strengthen the ceasefire from midnight on the 27th of July has significantly contributed to easing the effects of the conflict on the civilian population in both government-controlled and armed group-controlled territory," Bogner said at a press conference, while presenting the new report on the human rights situation in the country.

According to the official, the mission has not recorded any civilian casualties or damage to civilian objects in combat since August 1.

"This demonstrates that it is achievable to have zero civilian casualties. We urge parties to the conflict to continue to respect the ceasefire and to fully comply with international humanitarian law," Bogner added.

The mission also called on Kiev to decrease the number of prison inmates in the country, citing 120 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the penitentiary system.

In April 2014, the Ukrainian government launched an offensive against the self-proclaimed Luhansk and Donetsk people's republics, which claimed independence after what they considered to be a coup in Ukraine two months earlier. Prospects for peace have been discussed in various forms, including during the meetings of the Contact Group in Minsk, which, since September 2014, has already adopted three documents regulating steps to de-escalate the conflict.