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The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said it had documented torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war in the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Pictured is High Commissioner Volker Turk. Photo courtesy of Volker Turk Twitter
November 23 (UPI) — The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights says it has identified a pattern of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war in the Russian Federation Ukraine. It also documents abuses committed by Ukrainian state agents against prisoners of war.
The OHCHR said it had documented serious violations of international human rights law by Russian forces or affiliated groups, including the execution of a prisoner of war during interrogation in the Donetsk region.
The torture of prisoners in Russia has also been documented.
“For example, several Russian soldiers forced two Ukrainian soldiers with wounded legs to crawl about 500 meters to the nearest Russian position, filmed them and posted them online,” The OHCHR statement said.
OHCHR said it was also examining allegations that several wounded Ukrainian prisoners of war from Mariupol died in a makeshift camp in Saltana in April due to a lack of medical assistance.
According to the OHCHR statement: “The most common forms of torture or ill-treatment are beatings with the hands (often wearing tactical gloves), truncheons or wooden hammers, and kicking various parts of the body, usually sparing the head and other vital parts area. Electric shocks were also used, including Tasers and the so-called “TAPIK” field military telephone TA-57.
A man held by Russians in a penal colony near Olenivka told OHCHR that members of Russian-affiliated groups “appalled me by attaching wires to my genitals and my nose. They were just having fun.” , were not interested in my answers to their questions.”
Among the prisoners of war held in Ukraine, OHCHR said it had documented cases of torture or ill-treatment, such as “physical violence against them, such as being punched in the punches and kicks in the face, and in the torso”
The OHCHR statement on the mistreatment of Russian prisoners in Ukraine said: “In some cases prisoners of war were stabbed or shocked with ‘TAPIK’ by Ukrainian law enforcement officers or military personnel guarding them. One prisoner recalled: We are most afraid of military telephones . That feeling sucks, you freeze up and you fall on your side.
“In another case, a prisoner of war told OHCHR that Ukrainian soldiers who held him captive kept him from sleeping all night, tied him to something, kicked him and hit him on the head with something hard.”
In a statement, the OHCHR said its human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine had so far interviewed 159 prisoners of war held by Russia and 175 prisoners of war held by Ukraine, as well as witnesses and relatives of prisoners of war.
While Ukraine grants classified access to prisoners of war, Russia does not grant such access to OHCHR.
Both Ukraine and Russia are signatories to the Third Geneva Convention, which obligates states to always treat all prisoners of war in their power humanely.
OHCHR calls on the Russian Federation to allow regular, full and unhindered access to places where prisoners of war are held, including to conduct confidential interviews with prisoners of war.
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