Im Krieg in der Ukraine werden Kriegsverbrechen begangen. Nicht nur von Russland, sondern auch von der Ukraine. Die Soldaten beider Armeen begehen Greueltaten wie willkürliche Erschießungen und Vergewaltigungen. Das ist ein Phänomen aller Kriege. In den westlichen Mainstream Medien liest und hört man allerdings fast ausschliesslich von Kriegsverbrechen und Gräueltaten der Russen. Das ist Teil der Propaganda. Das Paradebeispiel ist das angebliche Massaker von Bucha, ein Thema das nun seit ueber einem Jahr immer wieder vom oeffentlich-rechtlichen deutschen Fernsehen als Beleg fuer die Gräueltaten der Russen angeführt wird.Gerade aber am Beispiel Bucha kann man gut nachweisen, dass es sich um ein unverschämtes Fake und um eine bewusste Irreführung der Menschen handelt. Hier die Chronologie der Ereignisse in der Zusammenfassung. Die komplette Berichterstattung unter dem Link
30. Maerz 2022 Abzug der Russen aus Butcha
31. Maerz 2022 Ansprache des Bürgermeisters. Gut gelaunt berichtet er ueber den Abzug. Von ukrainischen Opfern keine Rede
2. April 2022 Die ukrainische Militär Polizei durchkämmt die Kleinstadt und dreht ein achtminütiges Video. Hingerichtete UkrainerInnen sind darin nicht zu sehen.
Am selben Tag richtet sich der Bürgermeister noch einmal an die Bewohner des Städtchens und zeigt sich zufrieden mit der Lage in Butcha.
Am 4. April 2022 schließlich werden von der Ukraine Satellitenbilder der Firma Maxdar präsentiert auf denen hingerichtete Menschen zu sehen sind, die angeblich schon mehr als 14 Tage auf der von der ukrainischen MP inspizierten Strasse gelegen haben sollen. Von Journalisten zu den Vorfaellen befragt gibt der amerikanische Assistant to the Secretary of Defencse for Public Affairs John F. Kirby zu, dass sie keine eigenen Satellitenaufnahmen haetten, sich aber auf die ukrainischen Angaben verlassen koennten.
Wenn die USA Russland anklagen, so ist das die pure Heuchelei. Schliesslich ist es Uncle Sam, der die abscheulichsten Kriegsverbrechen von Vietnam über Hiroshima, Jugoslawien, den Irak bis Afghanistan begangen hat.
Bucha massacre was a cynical false flag operation by the Ukraine regime:
Cynical false flag operation by Kyiv’: Russia on Bucha killings, India calls for probe
French volunteer suggests Bucha tragedy was a false flag
Andererseits gibt es einen eindeutigen Beweis fuer Kriegeverbrechen der Ukraine:
Bericht der »New York Times«Video zeigt Hinrichtung eines russischen Soldaten durch Ukrainer
Für die Ukraine kämpfende Soldaten töten einen schwer verletzten russischen Kombattanten: Das Video kursiert seit Tagen im Netz, die Tat wäre ein Kriegsverbrechen. Nun hat die »New York Times« die Aufnahme überprüft.
07.04.2022, 11.08 Uhr
Ein im Netz kursierendes Video, das die Hinrichtung eines schwer verletzten russischen Soldaten zeigen soll, ist von der »New York Times« verifiziert worden. Das Video ist bereits seit mehreren Tagen auf Telegram im Umlauf. Es zeigt laut der »New York Times« die unrechtmäßige Tötung des Soldaten durch ukrainische Kämpfer nahe Dmytrivka. Der kleine Ort liegt nur wenige Kilometer von Butscha und damit auch unweit von Kiew entfernt.
In der Aufnahme sind mehrere russische Soldaten zu sehen, die meist regungslos auf einer Straße in ihren Blutlachen liegen. Einer bewegt sich, woraufhin ein ukrainischer Kämpfer zwei Schüsse auf den am Boden liegenden Mann abfeuert. Nach einer weiteren Regung tätigt er einen weiteren Schuss.
»Schau, er lebt noch. Er schnappt nach Luft«
Bevor die Schüsse abgegeben werden, sagt eine Person: »Er lebt noch. Filmen Sie diese Plünderer. Schau, er lebt noch. Er schnappt nach Luft.«
Die Hinrichtung soll sich laut »New York Times« bereits Ende März ereignet haben, als sich russische Truppen im Westen von Kiew zurückzogen und an dieser Stelle in einen Hinterhalt gerieten. Die auf dem Boden liegenden Soldaten konnten mittels ihrer Uniformen als Russen identifiziert werden. Die feuernden Soldaten ordnet die US-Zeitung anhand ihrer Abzeichen und blauen Armbinden der Ukraine zu. Mehrfach rufen sie »Ruhm der Ukraine«. Unter Berufung auf ukrainische Medien ist auch möglich, dass es sich bei den Kämpfern um die sogenannte Georgische Legion handelt, einer paramilitärischen Einheit, die bereits seit 2014 aufseiten der Ukraine kämpft.
Die Verbrechen der Georgischen Legion
In an interview this April, Mamulashvili, was asked about a video showing Russian fighters who had been extrajudicially executed in Dmitrovka, a town just five miles from Bucha. Mamulashvili was candid about his unit’s take-no-prisoners tactics, though he has denied involvement in the specific crimes depicted.
“We will not take Russian soldiers, as well as Kadyrovites [Chechnyan fighters]; in any case, we will not take prisoners, not a single person will be captured,” Mamulashvili said, implying that his fighters execute POWs.
The warlord’s battle dress shirt was emblazoned with a patch reading, “Mama says I’m special.”
“Yes, we tie their hands and feet sometimes. I speak for the Georgian Legion, we will never take Russian soldiers prisoner. Not a single one of them will be taken prisoner,” Mamulashvili emphasized
US lawmakers welcomed notorious Georgian warlord now boasting of war crimes in Ukraine ALEXANDER RUBINSTEIN·APRIL 8, 2022
Kriegsverbrechen: Schwere Vorwürfe gegen ukrainisches Freiwilligen-Bataillon
16. Mai 2022 Thomas Pany
Die französische Zeitung Le Monde verifiziert ein Video, das brutale Misshandlungen an russischen Kriegsgefangenen in der Nähe von Charkiw zeigt
Prisonniers russes torturés : des vidéos vérifiées par « Le Monde » mettent en cause un bataillon de volontaires ukrainiens
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Trois prisonniers désarmés, trois coups de feu. Les trois hommes s’écroulent. Une vidéo, diffusée le 27 mars 2022 et que Le Monde a pu authentifier et recouper avec d’autres images, documente une probable exaction commise par des volontaires ukrainiens contre des prisonniers de guerre russes.
De tels agissements sont strictement prohibés par la convention de Genève, qui fixe les règles à respecter envers des soldats ennemis faits prisonniers : les protéger comme ses propres soldats, ne pas les violenter, les soigner si nécessaire.
Les images repérées par l’analyste indépendant Erich Auerbach, et croisées par Le Monde à d’autres documents disponibles en ligne, prouvent que des volontaires du bataillon ukrainien Slobozhanshchyna se trouvaient sur les lieux quand les prisonniers russes ont été torturés. S’il n’est pas possible d’affirmer avec certitude que l’individu auteur du tir est directement issu de leurs rangs, le leader du groupe, Andri Ianholenko, apparaît clairement aux côtés des trois victimes, avant les coups de feu. Sollicité par Le Monde, Andri Ianholenko n’a pas répondu.
Es ist ein kleines Politikum auf schwierigem Gelände. Die französische Zeitung Le Monde veröffentlichte am Wochenende Video-Material, das zeigt, wie Kämpfer mit ukrainischen Abzeichen auf wehrlose russische Kriegsgefangene schießen
Für die Leserschaft, die viel in sozialen Netzen unterwegs ist, sind Videos mit solchen oder ähnlichen Bildern keine Neuigkeit. Seltener kommt vor, dass eine große Zeitung auf ein Video mit Kriegsverbrechen von ukrainischer Seite hinweist. Die Journalisten haben die Videoaufnahmen verifiziert, heißt es schon in der Überschrift.
In dem acht Minuten und 40 Sekunden langen Ausschnitt werden zu Anfang mehrere Videoausschnitte gezeigt, die aus dem sozialen Netzwerk Telegram stammen, und den Vorwurf erheben, dass ukrainische Kämpfer verantwortlich für mindestens schwer verletzte, wenn nicht sogar tote russische Soldaten sind, die regungslos in Blutlachen liegen. Die Bild-Aufnahmen stammen vom 26. März und vom 4. April. Der Sprecher macht darauf aufmerksam, dass solche Bilder meist in Zusammenhang mit russischer Propaganda gebracht werden.
Erklärt wird anschließend, dass sich das Team aus Journalisten und Beratern zur Überprüfung der Echtheit das meistverbreitete Video ausgesucht habe. Es stammt vom 27. März dieses Jahres, gefilmt wurde es auf einem Betriebshof in Malaya Rohan, an der östlichen Peripherie von Charkiw, fünf Kilometer von der Stadt entfernt.
Kamera zeigt fünf Soldaten am Boden liegend, danach wendet sie sich einem stehenden Mann und einem Kleinbus zu, aus dem drei Männer klettern. Die Stimme erklärt, dass es sich um Kriegsgefangene handelt und warnt den Zuschauer schon vorab, dass auf sie geschossen wird. Ihnen wird aus nächster Nähe in die Knie geschossen. „Wer sind die Männer?“, fragt die Stimme.
Anhand weißer Armbänder und eines anderen Zeichens werden die Opfer als russische Kriegsgefangene identifiziert, die Männer, die geschossen haben, werden aufgrund ihrer blauen Abzeichen als Ukrainer identifiziert, was durch eine Sprachanalyse weiter bestätigt wird. Ort und Zeit werden durch den Abgleich des Himmels und der Wetterverhältnisse („Schneespuren im Hof“) überprüft. Dazu werden russische und ukrainische Truppenbewegungen geschildert.
„Der Ruf nach Rache“
Wert wird in dem Video auf einen Kontext gelegt, auf den schon zu Beginn hingewiesen wird: der Ruf nach Rache für die brutalen russischen Angriffe auf Charkiw. In diesem Zusammenhang werden dann ukrainische Freiwilligenverbände vorgestellt – darunter auch eine Einheit des Asow-Regiments namens Kraken -, um am Ende dann das Foto des nationalistischen Bataillons Slobozhanshchina (ein historisch aufgeladener Name, siehe etwa Sloboda Ukraine) aus Charkiw zu zeigen, worauf sich ein Mann deutlich und selbstbewusst exponiert: Andriy Yangolenko.
Weitere Folgerungen, Bildervergleiche, Abstimmungen mit Zeit und Ort etc. führen dazu, dass Yangolenko und Mitglieder des Bataillons Slobozhanshchina schwer beschuldigt werden. Nach allem, was vorgebracht wird, sind sie es, die mit allergrößter Wahrscheinlichkeit das Video gedreht haben und auch für die darin dargestellten Verbrechen verantwortlich sind. Es hatte zu diesem Zeitpunkt auch niemand anders die Kontrolle über den Hof, wo das Geschehen stattfand.
Der oder die Schützen sind allerdings nicht zu identifizieren. Die Frage nach dem Täter bleibt offen.
Auf diese Vorfälle angesprochen teilte der Berater des ukrainischen Präsidentenbüros, Aleksey Arestovich, mit, dass es eine Untersuchung geben werde. Er deutet ebenfalls auf die schwierige psychische Situation – den Kontext für die Brutalitäten. Dennoch seien diese Taten inakzeptabel.
Als Zulieferer von Bildmaterial für die Arbeit der Journalisten nennt der Le Monde-Artikel Erich Auerbach. Auf dessen Twitter-Konto kann man manches, was im französischen Artikel zur Sprache kommt, auf Englisch lesen.
Das schwierige Gelände
Aussagen, die ukrainische Kämpfer, insbesondere Mitglieder des Asow-Bataillons, brutaler Vergehen gegen russische Soldaten beschuldigen, sind auf einem Mitschnitt eines Videos des französischen Sud-Radio zu hören. Dort spricht der ehemalige französische Elite-Soldat Adrien Bocquet von seinem kürzlichen Aufenthalt bei den Kämpfern und erzählt drastische Einzelheiten über einen extrem-rassistischen Corpsgeist bei den Azow-Kämpfern, die er getroffen bzw. erlebt habe, und deren brutale Behandlung von russischen Kriegsgefangenen (etwa ab Minute 18).
Im Unterschied zum genannten Video werden die Aussagen von Bocquet aber nicht verifiziert. Der ehemalige Soldat wurde, so die Darstellung des Senders, zur Vorstellung seines Buches eingeladen, das davon berichtet, wie er seine Querschnittslähmung, Folge eines Unfalls bei einer militärischen Übung, überwand und wieder gehen lernte. Das klingt zunächst politisch unschuldig.
Sein Interviewpartner, André Bercoff, ist allerdings keiner, den eine politische Neutralität oder gar Unschuld auszeichnet. Der ehemalige Linke hat in Frankreich einen Namen. Mittlerweile wird er der radikalen rechten Szene zugeordnet, die von Verschwörungsszenarien fasziniert ist und sich politisch im Infokrieg aufseiten Putins platziert. Dieser Fan-Kult wird auch dem Sender Sud-Radio vorgeworfen. Der Auftritt Bocquets, so kommentiert es die Publikation A gauche, sei pure Propaganda.
Umso wichtiger ist es, wenn große Medien wie Le Monde das Thema der Kriegsverbrechen mit offenen Augen und genauem Blick aufnehmen und nicht nur in eine Richtung schauen. (Thomas Pany)
Ukraine: Ukrainian fighting tactics endanger civilians
- Military bases set up in residential areas including schools and hospitals
- Attacks launched from populated civilian areas
- Such violations in no way justify Russia’s indiscriminate attacks, which have killed and injured countless civilians
Ukrainian forces have put civilians in harm’s way by establishing bases and operating weapons systems in populated residential areas, including in schools and hospitals, as they repelled the Russian invasion that began in February, Amnesty International said today.
Such tactics violate international humanitarian law and endanger civilians, as they turn civilian objects into military targets. The ensuing Russian strikes in populated areas have killed civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure.
“We have documented a pattern of Ukrainian forces putting civilians at risk and violating the laws of war when they operate in populated areas,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
“Being in a defensive position does not exempt the Ukrainian military from respecting international humanitarian law.”
Not every Russian attack documented by Amnesty International followed this pattern, however. In certain other locations in which Amnesty International concluded that Russia had committed war crimes, including in some areas of the city of Kharkiv, the organization did not find evidence of Ukrainian forces located in the civilian areas unlawfully targeted by the Russian military.
Between April and July, Amnesty International researchers spent several weeks investigating Russian strikes in the Kharkiv, Donbas and Mykolaiv regions. The organization inspected strike sites; interviewed survivors, witnesses and relatives of victims of attacks; and carried out remote-sensing and weapons analysis.
Throughout these investigations, researchers found evidence of Ukrainian forces launching strikes from within populated residential areas as well as basing themselves in civilian buildings in 19 towns and villages in the regions. The organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab has analyzed satellite imagery to further corroborate some of these incidents.
Most residential areas where soldiers located themselves were kilometres away from front lines. Viable alternatives were available that would not endanger civilians – such as military bases or densely wooded areas nearby, or other structures further away from residential areas. In the cases it documented, Amnesty International is not aware that the Ukrainian military who located themselves in civilian structures in residential areas asked or assisted civilians to evacuate nearby buildings – a failure to take all feasible precautions to protect civilians.
Launching strikes from populated civilian areas
Survivors and witnesses of Russian strikes in the Donbas, Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions told Amnesty International researchers that the Ukrainian military had been operating near their homes around the time of the strikes, exposing the areas to retaliatory fire from Russian forces. Amnesty International researchers witnessed such conduct in numerous locations.
International humanitarian law requires all parties to a conflict to avoid locating, to the maximum extent feasible, military objectives within or near densely populated areas. Other obligations to protect civilians from the effects of attacks include removing civilians from the vicinity of military objectives and giving effective warning of attacks that may affect the civilian population.
The mother of a 50-year-old man killed in a rocket attack on 10 June in a village south of Mykolaiv told Amnesty International: “The military were staying in a house next to our home and my son often took food to the soldiers. I begged him several times to stay away from there because I was afraid for his safety. That afternoon, when the strike happened, my son was in the courtyard of our home and I was in the house. He was killed on the spot. His body was ripped to shreds. Our home was partially destroyed.” Amnesty International researchers found military equipment and uniforms at the house next door.
Mykola, who lives in a tower block in a neighbourhood of Lysychansk (Donbas) that was repeatedly struck by Russian attacks which killed at least one older man, told Amnesty International: “I don’t understand why our military is firing from the cities and not from the field.” Another resident, a 50-year-old man, said: “There is definitely military activity in the neighbourhood. When there is outgoing fire, we hear incoming fire afterwards.” Amnesty International researchers witnessed soldiers using a residential building some 20 metres from the entrance of the underground shelter used by the residents where the older man was killed.
In one town in Donbas on 6 May, Russian forces used widely banned and inherently indiscriminate cluster munitions over a neighbourhood of mostly single or two-storey homes where Ukrainian forces were operating artillery. Shrapnel damaged the walls of the house where Anna, 70, lives with her son and 95-year-old mother.
Anna said: “Shrapnel flew through the doors. I was inside. The Ukrainian artillery was near my field… The soldiers were behind the field, behind the house… I saw them coming in and out… since the war started… My mother is… paralyzed, so I couldn’t flee.”
In early July, a farm worker was injured when Russian forces struck an agricultural warehouse in the Mykolaiv area. Hours after the strike, Amnesty International researchers witnessed the presence of Ukrainian military personnel and vehicles in the grain storage area, and witnesses confirmed that the military had been using the warehouse, located across the road from a farm where civilians are living and working.
While Amnesty International researchers were examining damage to residential and adjacent public buildings in Kharkiv and in villages in Donbas and east of Mykolaiv, they heard outgoing fire from Ukrainian military positions nearby.
In Bakhmut, several residents told Amnesty International that the Ukrainian military had been using a building barely 20 metres across the street from a residential high-rise building. On 18 May, a Russian missile struck the front of the building, partly destroying five apartments and damaging nearby buildings. Kateryna, a resident who survived the strike, said: “I didn’t understand what happened. [There were] broken windows and a lot of dust in my home… I stayed here because my mother didn’t want to leave. She has health problems.”
Three residents told Amnesty International that before the strike, Ukrainian forces had been using a building across the street from the bombed building, and that two military trucks were parked in front of another house that was damaged when the missile hit. Amnesty International researchers found signs of military presence in and outside the building, including sandbags and black plastic sheeting covering the windows, as well as new US-made trauma first aid equipment.
“We have no say in what the military does, but we pay the price,” a resident whose home was also damaged in the strike told Amnesty International.
Military bases in hospitals
Amnesty International researchers witnessed Ukrainian forces using hospitals as de facto military bases in five locations. In two towns, dozens of soldiers were resting, milling about, and eating meals in hospitals. In another town, soldiers were firing from near the hospital.
A Russian air strike on 28 April injured two employees at a medical laboratory in a suburb of Kharkiv after Ukrainian forces had set up a base in the compound.
Using hospitals for military purposes is a clear violation of international humanitarian law.
Military bases in schools
The Ukrainian military has routinely set up bases in schools in towns and villages in Donbas and in the Mykolaiv area. Schools have been temporarily closed to students since the conflict began, but in most cases the buildings were located close to populated civilian neighbourhoods
At 22 out of 29 schools visited, Amnesty International researchers either found soldiers using the premises or found evidence of current or prior military activity – including the presence of military fatigues, discarded munitions, army ration packets and military vehicles.
Russian forces struck many of the schools used by Ukrainian forces. In at least three towns, after Russian bombardment of the schools, Ukrainian soldiers moved to other schools nearby, putting the surrounding neighbourhoods at risk of similar attacks.
In a town east of Odesa, Amnesty International witnessed a broad pattern of Ukrainian soldiers using civilian areas for lodging and as staging areas, including basing armoured vehicles under trees in purely residential neighbourhoods, and using two schools located in densely populated residential areas. Russian strikes near the schools killed and injured several civilians between April and late June – including a child and an older woman killed in a rocket attack on their home on 28 June.
In Bakhmut, Ukrainian forces were using a university building as a base when a Russian strike hit on 21 May, reportedly killing seven soldiers. The university is adjacent to a high-rise residential building which was damaged in the strike, alongside other civilian homes roughly 50 metres away. Amnesty International researchers found the remains of a military vehicle in the courtyard of the bombed university building.
International humanitarian law does not specifically ban parties to a conflict from basing themselves in schools that are not in session. However, militaries have an obligation to avoid using schools that are near houses or apartment buildings full of civilians, putting these lives at risk, unless there is a compelling military need. If they do so, they should warn civilians and, if necessary, help them evacuate. This did not appear to have happened in the cases examined by Amnesty International.
Armed conflicts seriously hamper children’s right to education, and military use of schools can result in destruction that further deprives children of this right once the war ends. Ukraine is one of 114 countries that have endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, an agreement to protect education amid armed conflict, which allows parties to make use of abandoned or evacuated schools only where there is no viable alternative.
Indiscriminate attacks by Russian forces
Many of the Russian strikes that Amnesty International documented in recent months were carried out with inherently indiscriminate weapons, including internationally banned cluster munitions, or with other explosive weapons with wide area effects. Others used guided weapons with varying levels of accuracy; in some cases, the weapons were precise enough to target specific objects.
The Ukrainian military’s practice of locating military objectives within populated areas does not in any way justify indiscriminate Russian attacks. All parties to a conflict must at all times distinguish between military objectives and civilian objects and take all feasible precautions, including in choice of weapons, to minimize civilian harm. Indiscriminate attacks which kill or injure civilians or damage civilian objects are war crimes.
“The Ukrainian government should immediately ensure that it locates its forces away from populated areas, or should evacuate civilians from areas where the military is operating. Militaries should never use hospitals to engage in warfare, and should only use schools or civilian homes as a last resort when there are no viable alternatives,” said Agnès Callamard.
Amnesty International contacted the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence with the findings of the research on 29 July 2022. At the time of publication, they had not yet responded.
24 March 2023
Statement by the Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine Matilda Bogner, delivered at the launch of OHCHR’s 35th report on the human rights situation in Ukraine and a thematic report on the treatment of prisoners of war.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, I would like to welcome those present here and those joining us online.
As many of you will know, our job is to document violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Today, we are launching two reports: one is on the treatment of prisoners of war and the other covers the overall human rights situation in Ukraine over a 6 month period up to 31 January 2023.
IMPACT OF HOSTILITIES ON THE CIVILIAN POPULATION
The war has come at a horrendous human cost. As of this week, we have documented that more than 8,000 civilians have been killed and almost 14,000 injured. More than 90 per cent were caused by missiles, explosive weapons or mines and explosive remnants of war. The actual figures are unfortunately considerably higher.
RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY AND SECURITY OF PERSONS
In occupied areas of Ukraine, we have documented summary executions and attacks on individual civilians by Russian armed forces and the pervasive use of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances.
Since 24 February 2022, we have documented 621 cases of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention of civilians by Russian armed forces. Among the 127 that we interviewed after their release, 90 per cent reported that members of the Russian security forces tortured and ill-treated them while in detention, in some cases including sexual violence. Five of these civilians were boys, between 14 and 17 years old, who had been forcibly disappeared by Russian armed forces and subjected to ill-treatment or torture.
Since 24 February 2022, we have documented 91 cases of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention committed by Ukrainian security forces. Of the 73 victims we interviewed, 53 per cent had been tortured or ill-treated by members of Ukrainian armed forces and law enforcement agencies.
The prohibitions of torture and arbitrary deprivation of life are absolute. All perpetrators must be held to account, and victims and their relatives must enjoy the rights to remedy and truth. In this regard, we welcome the recent adoption by the Parliament of Ukraine of a law amending the Criminal Code to align national legislation with the UN Convention against Torture.
The horrendous human cost of the war is also evident in the cases of conflict-related sexual violence, which we have documented since 24 February last year. By 31 January this year, we had recorded 133 victims – comprising of 85 men, 45 women and 3 girls. 109 cases are attributable to Russian armed forces, Russian law enforcement authorities and penitentiary staff, and 24 cases are attributable to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Ukrainian police, and Ukrainian civilians or members of territorial defence forces. Sexual violence frequently occurred when civilians or prisoners of war were detained, as well as in residential areas that were controlled by Russian armed forces.
We also documented transfers of civilians to areas in occupied territory or to the Russian Federation, some of which may amount to forced transfers or deportations. These transfers include children and adults who lived in social care institutions and unaccompanied children from parts of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv and Odesa regions while they were occupied by the Russian Federation or temporarily controlled by Russian armed forces.
PRISONERS OF WAR
I will turn now to our report on the treatment of prisoners of war, during all stages of captivity – from initial capture, to transit and then places of internment.
Our team interviewed more than 400 prisoners of war, approximately 200 on each side. Ukraine provided us with unimpeded confidential access to official places of internment of Russian prisoners of war. The Russian Federation did not give us access. However, we were able to carry out confidential interviews with Ukrainian POWs upon their release.
I will start with Russian prisoners of war in the hands of Ukraine. We are deeply concerned about the summary execution of up to 25 Russian POWs and persons hors de combat by Ukrainian armed forces which we have documented. This was often perpetrated immediately upon capture on the battlefield. While we are aware of ongoing investigations by Ukrainian authorities into five cases involving 22 victims, we are not aware of any prosecutions of the perpetrators.
Almost half of the 229 Russian POWs who we interviewed spoke of being tortured or ill-treated by members of Ukrainian armed forces and the SBU, and to a lesser extent penitentiary staff. The majority of these cases occurred during the initial stages of apprehension and interrogation. POWs were beaten, shot in the legs, stabbed in their limbs, electrocuted, subjected to mock executions, threats of sexual violence or death. In permanent places of internment, such as pre-trial facilities, or the POW camp, reports of mistreatment were significantly less. We still received, however, complaints of beatings in some of these facilities in Dnipro, Vinnytsia and Kharkiv last spring.
Under international law, prisoners of war should not be held in closed confinement. While many remain in closed confinement in Ukraine, we welcome progress through the establishment of a POW camp in Lviv region in April 2022. We expect that the authorities are addressing complaints of humiliating and degrading treatment, which we received during our visit to the camp in December 2022. No camp has been established by the Russian Federation and POWs are regularly held in closed confinement.
In relation to the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war, we are also deeply concerned by the summary execution of 15 Ukrainian prisoners of war shortly after being captured by Russian armed forces. The Wagner Group military and security contractors perpetrated 11 of these executions.
Of the 203 Ukrainian POWs that we interviewed, 67 per cent fell into the hands of Russian forces after their surrender was negotiated by commanders. In these cases, we saw better protection for them at the beginning of their captivity.
However, the majority of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured during battle were tortured or ill-treated before internment. Members of Russian armed forces and the Russian Security Service tortured and ill-treated them to extract military information, to intimidate or humiliate them, or as a form of retribution. Forms of torture included beating, electrocution, or in several cases, being shot or stabbed in the legs. Mock executions were also common. The report describes one case, where a POW died from injuries within hours after he was tortured.
Conditions for many Ukrainian prisoners of war were shocking. A prisoner of war we spoke to told us – and I quote – “We were provided with just enough food to keep us alive”. Access to medical care was often insufficient, or unavailable, sometimes leading to dire consequences. The report documents that five of them died in internment reportedly due to the lack of medical attention.
The number of documented cases of torture and ill-treatment during internment in penitentiary facilities is shocking – more than 84 per cent endured such mistreatment. Penitentiary staff subjected prisoners of war to so-called ‘welcome beatings’ upon their arrival, beat and electrocuted them regularly during inspections in cells or while walking them around the facilities. Members of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Services (FSIN) and those in charge of many places of internment in Russian occupied territory systematically engaged in such practices against POWs. Former POWs told our colleagues that they dreaded weekly trips to the shower which inevitably ended in beatings and humiliation, often with sexual overtones. We documented that five POWs died from injuries sustained during torture in internment.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The cruelty and large-scale impact on civilians that we have seen over the last year will continue, unless both parties to the conflict ensure full compliance with international humanitarian law.
And when violations do occur, prompt action must be taken, first within the ranks of the army itself, and also through full and effective investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for the acts committed and those in command. The cases of summary executions, torture, ill-treatment, arbitrary detention and sexual violence must not be allowed to continue.
It is now over a year since the Russian Federation launched its armed attack against Ukraine, which has led to the violations that I have outlined today.
In the words of the High Commissioner, we appeal again “for respect for the sanctity of life, for human dignity, for respect for the principle of humanity”.
Siehe auch diesen Beitra aus Aktuelle neue Doku 1 Die USA Kriegsverbrechen vom 2. Weltkrieg bis heute
À propos russische – und US-amerikanische – Kriegsverbrechen
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