War crimes against persons with disabilities committed by russia: Fight For Right initiates a discussion at UN Headquarters in New York
On June 9, Fight For Right, together with international partner organizations, will hold a side event at UN Headquarters in New York. We will bring to light the horrific crimes committed by russian forces in Ukraine and discuss how the international framework could be improved to better address disability-inclusive justice.
Event: “War crimes against persons with disabilities in Ukraine: rethinking international humanitarian law”
Date: Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Time: 10:00–11:15 a.m. New York time (5:00–6:15 p.m. Kyiv time)
Location: Conference room 12, UN Headquarters, New York
Our goal is to change attitudes toward crimes against people with disabilities during war. This is not a matter of “collateral damage”; we must recognize that people with disabilities are victims of targeted, systematic violence. Appropriate changes must be made to international criminal law.
Fight For Right presents research findings proving that in russian-occupied territories, closed institutions such as psychiatric and geriatric care facilities have become death traps for thousands of people. russia exploits disability as a vulnerability.
Among the documented war crimes are:
- The forced deportation of people from detention centers to Russian territory.
- The cynical coercion of people with disabilities to participate in Russian propaganda.
- Denial of access to essential medications.
- Torture and conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).
Together, we will discuss how targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure have become a deliberate method of warfare and threaten the lives of people with disabilities. Survivors who endured months of occupation without adequate food or care have suffered profound psychological trauma, including the excruciating fear of starvation.
In addition, at the event, Fight For Right will raise the issue of gender-based violence. After all, women and girls with disabilities in closed institutions during the war face a catastrophically high risk of exploitation and abuse.
Demands to the international community
Ahead of the meeting, the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) at Ruhr University Bochum will present the policy brief, which includes specific recommendations related to the war crimes against people with disabilities for the international community to achieve:
- Incorporating the phrase “persecution on the basis of disability” into legislation on crimes against humanity.
- The formal recognition of disability as an aggravating circumstance in international criminal law.
- Global deinstitutionalization – an immediate transition from a system of closed residential facilities to community-based living – because it is precisely this isolation that leaves people with disabilities vulnerable in the face of war.
Fight For Right will also share its unique experience in interviewing people with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities, ensuring their testimonies have equal legal weight in court without causing retraumatization.
Co-organizers and sponsors of the event: Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN, International Partnership for Human Rights, New Society Institute Canada, Validity Foundation, Kvinna Till Kvinna, Christoffel-Blindenmission (Christian Blind Mission), Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) at Ruhr University Bochum, Global Rights Compliance (GRC), and the Siracusa International Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights (Italy), University of Baltimore, United States International Council on Disabilities (USICD).
