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Ukraine-Russia Tensions Spark Human Rights Debate

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - A U.N. report on extensive human rights violations in the
   Russian-backed separatist regions of eastern Ukraine and in the
   Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula has triggered a fiery debate at the
   U.N. human rights council.

   The conflict between Russian-backed rebels and the Ukrainian government
   in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk is entering its sixth
   year. U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore says
   5 million people are directly affected by ongoing hostilities along the
   contact line, the area that separates the two warring forces.

   "Shelling, use of small arms and light weapons, mines, explosive
   remnants of war -- these continue to kill and injure civilian women and
   men, girls and boys," she said.

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