“We claim that there are war crimes being committed on Ukrainian soil,” explained Jean-Claude Samouiller, vice-president of Amnesty international France, on franceinfo on Friday June 6. He estimates, after investigation whose conclusions are published Friday, that there is “irrefutable evidenceof war crimes in Ukraine.
franceinfo: Why did you call your report: “He won’t come back”?
Jean-Claude Samouiller: This is the answer that a gentleman got after he asked a Russian soldier if his son-in-law, with whom he had been arrested, could help him come and put out the fire that had broken out in the house. following a grenade throw. The Russian soldier answered him, he will not come back. The son-in-law had just been executed on the other side of the garden wall. These are the kinds of atrocities we have documented.
Which areas and which periods concern these war crimes?
It is a region which is northwest of kyiv. We interviewed dozens of civilians, direct witnesses, neighbors who corroborated the statements of these witnesses. We have documented two kinds of abuse. First, illegal, indiscriminate bombings in the town of Borodyanka, where we know that on March 2 and 3 eight buildings were targeted. Inside lived 600 families and 42 civilians were killed.
There were extrajudicial executions that we documented in the same region, in the villages of Boutcha. There, they are civilians who had no armament and who had the misfortune to have crossed columns of Russian tanks. We have documented 22 extrajudicial executions of civilians, two of which were after torture.
Do you have proof?
We have irrefutable proof, which is why our report is only coming out today because we had to collect this proof, identify it, cross-check it. So, today we affirm that there are war crimes being committed on Ukrainian soil.
Were you able to identify the perpetrators of these massacres?
This is the work we are doing. We know by the analysis of the munitions that we found on the spot and by the analysis of administrative documents the regiments which are concerned. We are in the process of authenticating the authors. In terms of major war crimes, not only the perpetrators must be prosecuted and judged but also the military hierarchy. In international law, the hierarchy must be able to curb the abuses of its troops.
Would you like to see Vladimir Putin in court?
It is the wish that we have, that the highest instances of the Russian regime be judged and condemned for war crimes. It will be very difficult to judge Vladimir Putin.