India on Tuesday abstained from voting on a United Nations draft resolution on alleged human rights violations in Ukraine by Russia, ANI reported. As many as 16 other countries, too, decided not to vote in the poll to clear the UNHRC draft resolution titled 'Situation of human rights in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression'.
Twenty-eight countries voted in favour of extending the mandate of an investigative body probing possible war crimes committed since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported. Two countries -- China and Eritrea -- voted against the resolution, which Ukraine has said is essential for keeping Russia accountable for its crimes.
Last year, India abstained twice — on March 4 and April 7 — from voting on UNHRC resolutions against Russian aggression in Ukraine. India on February 25, 2022, had also abstained from voting on a UNSC resolution condemning 'Russian aggression' in Ukraine.
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Ahead of the vote in UNHRC, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Yevheniia Filipenko, told the council that the "scope and brutality of Russia's atrocities in Ukraine are simply beyond any human comprehension".
"We strongly believe that the continued work of the Commission in further investigating, documenting and reporting human rights violations and international crimes committed against the people in Ukraine could save more innocent lives (and) could contribute to accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims," Reuters quoted Filipenko as saying.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, in a report in March, found that crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, including the use of torture and attacks against the country's energy infrastructure, could constitute crimes against humanity.
Russia has vehemently denied committing atrocities or targeting civilians in Ukraine.
Citing Ukrainian government data, the commission also found that some 16,000 children were unlawfully transferred and deported from the war-torn country. Russia has denied the accusation.
"Putin's war has caused dire humanitarian consequences in Ukraine, throughout Europe and around the world, and the forcible transfer and deportation of Ukraine's children is truly sickening," US Permanent Representative to council, Michèle Taylor, said, as per Reuters.
Germany's ambassador Katharina Stasch called the deportations "an attempt to steal Ukraine's future".
The development comes as the International Criminal Court is expected to seek the arrest of Russian officials for deporting children from Ukraine and attacking civilian infrastructure.