Based on more than 300 testimonies collected from Russian and Ukrainian prisoners, the UN reports widespread mistreatment.
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Exactions are observed on both sides. Many prisoners of war captured by Russian and Ukrainian forces are being subjected to torture and ill-treatment, including electric shocks, the UN warned on Tuesday (November 15th). “The large majority [des prisonniers de guerre capturés par les forces russes] whom we interviewed told us that they had been tortured and mistreated”reported Matilda Bogner, the head of the human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine.
Upon capture, some of the prisoners were beaten. All were then transported to their place of detention, “often in overcrowded trucks or buses”, without always having access to water or toilets for more than a day. On their arrival in certain places of internment, prisoners of war are subjected to “admission procedures”according to testimonies collected by the UN, during which they were beaten for a long time, threatened, attacked by dogs or stripped naked.
The United Nations has also received “credible allegations” summary executions of Russian prisoners of war captured by Ukrainian forces and several cases of torture and ill-treatment. “The prohibition of torture and ill-treatment is absolute, even in times of armed conflict”, recalled Matilda Bogner during a videoconference from kyiv. She recalled that both countries are parties to the Third Geneva Convention, which sets requirements for the treatment of prisoners of war.
The UN mission interviewed 159 POWs (including 20 women) held by Russia and its affiliated armed groups, and 175 POWs (all men) held by Ukraine. The UN has been given unimpeded access to places of internment of prisoners of war controlled by the Ukrainian government. Despite her requests, she has still not been granted confidential access to prisoners of war interned by Russia. She was, however, able to talk to Ukrainian prisoners of war who had been released.