DHundreds of summarily buried bodies were discovered on Thursday in Izioum, in a region taken back from the Russians, including those of people “tortured and executed”, according to local authorities.
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The Czech Republic, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU, called on Saturday 17 September for the creation of an international tribunal for war crimes. The call follows the discovery of around 450 tombs on the outskirts of Iziouma town in eastern Ukraine retaken from the Russians last week, with some of the exhumed bodies showing signs of torture. “In the 21st century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and heinous”Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said on Twitter.
>> What we know about the Izioum mass grave, where 445 graves were discovered in the forest
“We must not ignore it. We are for the punishment of all war criminals”he added, “I call for the rapid creation of a special international tribunal”. Ukrainian authorities reported on Friday that “450 bodies of civilians bearing traces of violent death and torture” buried in a wood on the outskirts of Izioum. “There are several bodies with their hands tied behind their backs and one person is buried with a rope around their neck. Obviously these people were tortured and executed”regional governor Oleg Synegoubov said on Telegram.
On the same site, an AFP journalist was able to see at least one body with its hands tied with a rope. According to Ukrainian human rights officer Dmytro Loubinets, there were “probably more than 1,000 Ukrainian citizens tortured and killed in the liberated territories of the Kharkiv region”. As for the head of the Ukrainian police, Igor Klymenko, he announced the discovery of 10 “torture rooms” in localities taken back from the Russians in the Kharkiv region, including six in Izioum.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced in a video posted Friday on Telegram the crimes of a Russian army composed of “murderers” and “torturers”and promised them a “terribly just punishment”. Thursday, even before the discovery of the graves and mass graves of Izioum, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen had wished the appearance of Russian President Vladimir Putin before international justice for war crimes.