UN special rapporteur: torture is part of Russia’s policy in Ukraine
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The documented number of cases of the use of torture in the occupied territories of Ukraine and against Ukrainian prisoners by representatives of the Russian security forces indicates that torture has become part of the systemic policy pursued by Russia in Ukraine. This was stated by the UN special rapporteur on torture, Alice Jill Edwards – reports The New York Times.
Edwards made a seven-day trip to Ukraine, and at the end of it, she noted that torture by the Russian military and representatives of other power structures cannot be called a coincidence or isolated incidents. “Torture is organized in such a way that it is part of the state policy of intimidation and punishment in order to obtain information or recognition,” the UN special rapporteur said. She added that she had received evidence of electric torture, beatings, mock executions, threats of violence, forcing to stay in one position for a long time and other methods of torture, the purpose of which is, among other things, to humiliate a person imprisoned in the territories occupied by Russia or in captivity.
According to Edwards, she has evidence of keeping civilians in cramped quarters or basements. Several survivors of Russian captivity confessed to her that they lost consciousness from beatings and electric shocks, and also noted loss of memory as a result of torture.
As Edwards said, we are talking about actions approved by the leadership of Russia – in any case, secretly. This assumption is supported by the fact that the Russian authorities refuse to investigate reports of torture. The representative of the UN said that she appealed to the Russian authorities several times to pay attention to cases of violence by law enforcement agencies and the military, but she did not receive a response.
On Saturday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine announced that 80 improvised prisons where Ukrainian citizens were held in inhumane conditions were found in Ukrainian territories liberated from Russian occupation.
In November 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report on the treatment of prisoners of war during the full-scale war in Ukraine. In it, among other things, there was talk of cruel treatment and torture in relation to Ukrainian prisoners of war, as well as to civilians.
Russian authorities deny reports of torture and, on the contrary, accuse Ukrainian servicemen of torturing and killing Russian prisoners of war. Similar cases were also reported in the UN, without claiming that they are systematic in nature. There is no reaction of the Russian authorities to the recent statements of the UN representative yet.
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