According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Russian forces “engaged in widespread acts of torture and ill-treatment”.
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Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the UN has recorded 77 summary executions of civilians arbitrarily detained by Russia in the territories it occupies, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. According to this document presented on Tuesday 27 June, the Russian forces “engaged in widespread torture and ill-treatment”.
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“It is a war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law”, believes Matilda Bogner, head of the Ukraine office of the High Commission. The UN agency also recorded 864 cases of arbitrary detention by the Russian armed forces, law enforcement and prison authorities, which “carried out widespread torture and ill-treatment of civilian detainees”. “Clearly the number [de détentions arbitraires] is much higher. Maybe twice as much”, said Matilda Bogner. The report considers only individual cases and not mass imprisonments.
More than 70 arbitrary detentions in Ukraine
The report prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner in Ukraine covers the period from February 24, 2022, the date of the start of the Russian invasion, to May 23, 2023. On the Ukrainian side, the High Commission has “identified 75 cases of arbitrary detention by the Ukrainian security forces, mainly of persons suspected of offenses related to the conflict”and half of them were tortured and mistreated.
OHCHR’s findings are based on 1,136 interviews with victims, witnesses and others, 274 site visits and 70 visits to official places of detention run by Ukrainian authorities. On their side, thehe Russian authorities have not granted any access despite requests from the High Commission.