Both Ukraine and Russia have committed acts against prisoners of war that amount to torture, a United Nations human rights body said in a report Tuesday.
The Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) cited instances of both Ukrainian and Russian forces subjecting prisoners of war (POWs) to electric shocks, beatings and forced nudity, according to testimony from over 300 prisoners interviewed during the course of several months, the organization found. A “vast majority” of Ukrainian POWs reported experiencing torture, while reports from Russian detainees were localized to three specific holding centers early in the conflict, mission leader Matilda Bogner said.
“The fundamental obligation of a state is to treat all prisoners of war in their power humanely at all times — from the very moment they are captured until their release and repatriation,” Bogner said, adding that Ukraine and Russia have both acceded to the Third Geneva Convention mandating fair treatment of former prisoners of war. (RELATED: Hundreds Of Bodies Uncovered At Mass Burial Site In Ukraine, Some Allegedly Show ‘Signs Of Torture’)
Bogner said Ukrainian prisoners described dog attacks, mock executions, stabbings, electric shocks with Tasers or military phones and sexual abuse. Russia’s goal in conducting activities involving torture and ill treatment was not only intended to extract military information but to “intimidate and humiliate” the prisoners.
One male prisoner said Russian interrogators “attached wires to my genitalia and nose, and shocked me. They simply had fun and were not interested in my replies to their questions,” according to OHCHR.
While being transported to the Russian detention facilities, Ukrainian soldiers reported being bound hand and foot with duct tape, Bogner said. At least one prisoner, and as many as eight, died during an “admission procedure” at a penal colony in April.
This handout picture taken ad released by Ukrainian presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak on October 17, 2022 shows freed Ukrainian female prisoners posing for a picture after their exchange in an unknown location in Ukraine. (Photo by STR/UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SER/AFP via Getty Images)
Russian prisoners held in Ukrainian internment facilities also recounted summary executions and cases of beatings, stabbings and electric shocks with the same implements Russia used.
“We were most afraid of the military phone. The feeling was awful. Your whole body froze and then you would fall on your side,” one POW said.
At a penal colony in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Russian POWs received “welcome beatings,” Bogner said.
Ukraine has launched criminal investigations into members of the armed forces implicated in prisoner abuse, Bogner said. OHCHR did not find any accountability efforts from the Russian authorities that led to prosecutions.
The U.N.’s monitoring team in Ukraine spoke with the 159 Ukrainian prisoners after their release, as Russia denied entrance into detention facilities for the prisoners, according to Bogner. Ukraine granted the team confidential access to the 175 Russian prisoners.
The U.N. has documented evidence of Russian human rights violations against Ukrainian civilians, including forced deportations, sexual abuse and evidence of physical harm on bodies exhumed from mass graves near Ukrainian cities, all of which could amount to war crimes.
The Ukrainian and Russian embassies did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
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