Declaração do Representante Permanente, Embaixador Ronaldo Costa Filho, em reunião do Conselho de Segurança sobre Ucrânia - 21 de junho de 2022 (texto em inglês)

Mister President,

I thank the briefers for their presentations.

The conflict in Ukraine is well into its fourth month and its humanitarian costs are mounting. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the estimated number of civilian casualties is over 5,000, including some 300 children. Over 4,000 are registered with severe injuries due to the conflict. The number of soldiers killed in action ranges between 25,000 and 30,000. As many as 60,000 soldiers could be wounded. These are conservative estimates. The actual human toll is much higher.

Deliberate attacks against civilian targets and indiscriminate shelling in densely populated areas are unacceptable, especially in the case of strikes on civilian buildings such as houses, hospitals, schools and kindergartens. The use of explosive weapons in populated areas, as in the city of Mariupol, is also cause of concern. Attacks against infrastructure, such as power generators and water stations, can further deprive large segments of the population of basic services.

We reiterate our call for the full protection of civilians to be observed by all parties, in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law principles of distinction, proportionality, precaution and humanity.

Furthermore, all actors should be committed to the protection of vulnerable groups, especially women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. Women and girls, in particular, face serious risks due to sexual and gender-based violence, as well as the threat of human trafficking. Those crimes are abhorrent and deserve the strongest repudiation by the international community.

The reports of torture, summary killings, forced deportations of civilians, and systematic and massive sexual violence, including the raping of children, are worrisome, and deserve broad, independent and impartial investigation.

Humanitarian corridors fall short from being fully protected. A number of attempts were made to establish safe passages to evacuate civilians fleeing from embattled areas, but these corridors have failed due to shelling and bombing. We reiterate our call to all parties to ensure safe, timely and unimpeded access for humanitarian personnel. Nevertheless, we are cognizant that only a nationwide cease-fire will allow for an effective protection of the civilian population.

We shall bear in mind that nearly one fourth of Ukraine’s population has been forcibly displaced since the beginning of the war, a figure that is a testimony to the intensity of the conflict and the degree of disruption of normal life it is inflicting upon its people. About 7.2 million Ukrainians now live as refugees in other countries, especially Ukraine’s neighbors. These countries have displayed remarkable solidarity in receiving those persons, but we should not underestimate the psychological impacts of that condition on its victims and, in the case of children, also on the prospects of their future development.

The conflict has worsened the global food crisis, with devastating impacts on the most vulnerable people across the world. The destruction of Ukraine`s productive capacities, on one side; and the unilateral economic sanctions, on the other, have contributed to the surge in food and energy prices. Especially for developing countries, which were still struggling with the socioeconomic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, higher food prices have been a severe blow.

In such dire circumstances, it is high time for all parties involved to seek an avenue to ending this conflict before more atrocities and humanitarian crises are committed against the civilians in the region.

Thank you.