– The torture committed by Russian forces has been widespread and systematic against people who are accused of being informers for the Ukrainian forces. In some cases, the torture was inflicted with such brutality that the victim died, Erik Møse said from the podium in Geneva. The former Norwegian Supreme Court judge is head of the UN commission. On Monday, he presented his findings from the war-torn areas of Ukraine in a new report. The torture is said to have taken place in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, and mainly in Kherson and Zaporizhzhya. – Russian soldiers have also raped and sexually assaulted women aged 19 to 83 in occupied parts of Kherson province, Møse said further. The assaults are said to have often occurred while family members were forced to listen from the next room. Russia denies having committed the atrocities described or having targeted civilians in Ukraine. They had the opportunity to respond to the allegations during the council hearing on Monday, but no Russian representative attended. A local resident in a house that was destroyed after a missile attack on Kherson on August 14, 2023. Kherson is one of the areas where torture is said to have been widely used. Photo: AFP Torture cases across the country Another member of the commission, Pablo de Greiff, said it was impossible to know how many cases of lethal torture there have been in Ukraine. – We have limited access, but it is quite a large number and it comes from very different regions across the country, and both near and far from the front lines, de Greiff said. Colombian Pablo de Greiff, one of the commission’s three members. Here from the UN Human Rights Council in September 2022. Photo: AFP A victim who was tortured with electric shocks has described the following to the commission: – Every time I answered that I didn’t know or remember anything, they gave me electric shocks. I don’t know how long it lasted. It felt like an eternity. In August and September, the commission visited several Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, including Kherson and Zaporizhzhya. Then they found out that the torture was mainly committed in the detention centres. – Seems like an order from above Berit Lindemann is secretary general of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. She is in no way surprised by what is presented by the commission. – The UN has documented this for a long time. Unfortunately, it is quite common, although it is strictly prohibited. Secretary General of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, Berit Lindemann. Photo: Lasse Thomassen / NHC International humanitarian law prohibits all forms of mistreatment in war. It is a law Russia has ignored ever since the annexation of the Crimean peninsula, according to Lindemann. She believes that the Russian authorities are very aware of what is happening on the ground in Ukraine. – It seems like an order from above, in that the same type of treatment has been carried out systematically, across land areas and military groups. – Why are the Russians doing this? – Russian soldiers are fed a rhetoric of hate, which in turn goes beyond the population that is subjected to torture by the Russian forces. At the same time, the Russian soldiers are not educated, so they have no knowledge of the rules that apply to war. Found Ukrainian human rights violations The report does not only refer to Russian war crimes. The commission also found what it describes as “a few cases” of violations committed by Ukrainian forces. It was mainly about arbitrary attacks and mistreatment of detained Russians. Ukrainian authorities have previously said they are checking all information related to the treatment of prisoners of war, investigating any violations and taking appropriate legal action, according to Reuters.
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Ukrainian prisoners of war tortured to death, according to UN report – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
