UN Commission reports on torture of Ukrainian civilians in Russia
The UN Commission of Inquiry said that enforced disappearances of Ukrainians in Russia and torture are crimes against humanity.
This is reported by Censor.NET with reference to LIGA.
The UN commission presented a new report on March 19 in Geneva. It says that a large number of civilian Ukrainians were detained either in the temporarily occupied territories or after being deported to Russia. Subsequently, they were subjected to torture and sexual violence.
"These crimes were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population and in accordance with a coordinated state policy," the report says.
It is noted that the Russian mission in Geneva called these statements "politicized and one-sided" and declined to comment. Earlier, the Russian mission denied torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war.
Commission Chairman Eric Messe said that Russia has not reported the whereabouts of missing persons, which has left Ukrainian families facing "painful uncertainty."
"The most brutal forms of torture were used during interrogations, which were most often conducted by officers of the Federal Security Service and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation," the UN commission said in its report. In addition, additional cases of rape and sexual violence against women prisoners were identified.
"We are shocked by the report, which exposes Russia's cruel treatment of prisoners," said British Ambassador Simon Manley on Wednesday. At the same time, a representative of Eritrea (an African country allied with Russia) said that the report's content is based on a model of "bias against Russia."
Ukraine, in turn, appealed to the UN Human Rights Council to extend the mandate of the Commission, a decision on which will be made in April.
