Majority of Ukrainian citizens held captive in Russia subjected to torture, ombudsman says
According to Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s
Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner, 86% of Ukrainian citizens who were
held captive in Russia were subjected to various forms of torture,
both psychological and physical, Lubinets said at a press briefing on May 4.
“According to our data..., 86% of those who were held captive were subjected to various forms of torture, both psychological and physical,” Ukrainian news agency Interfax-Ukraine quotes the official.
The ombudsman stated that Ukrainian citizens were beaten, their bones were broken, and they were subjected to electric shocks.
Lubinets added that the situation would have been better if the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had fulfilled its mandate.
"We have repeatedly appealed to our international partners, and will continue to do so to initiate the creation of such an alternative organization," he said, suggesting that a new organization should replace ICRC to protect the rights of POWs.
On March 24, the UN Monitoring Mission presented a report on the treatment of POWs and human rights situation in Ukraine. In addition to extensive Russian war crimes, such as murder, torture, and sexual violence against civilians, the mission reported cases of Ukrainian and Russian military allegedly executing prisoners of war.
Nearly half of captive Russian soldiers, with whom members of the mission spoke, complained about alleged cruelty and torture. Meanwhile, the mission documented the torture and beating of Ukrainian prisoners of war, shocking conditions of their detention, and the deaths of at least five captives due to a lack of medical care.
Lubinets subsequently stated that he had met with the head of the mission on several occasions, but the UN representatives never addressed the treatment of Russian POWs.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called the shifting of responsibility onto the victim of aggression unacceptable and expressed hope that the UN mission would avoid equating the victim and the aggressor in the future.
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