As Russia again bombs the main cities of Ukraine, a report against the United Nations has just been unveiled. He denounces the quasi-systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian detention centres. Tortures also committed opposite, by the Ukrainians on the Russian soldiers, but not in the same extent.
With our correspondent in Geneva, Jeremiah Lance
Sham executions, threats of rape, use of dogs, electric shocks to the genitals, beatings, etc. the human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine interviewed nearly 160 former prisoners who fell into Russian hands. All mention ill-treatment, comparable for some to torture.
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Several cases also reported on the Ukrainian side
Some soldiers were more exposed to it than others, explains the head of the UN mission, Matilda Bogner : “ Those who have a bigger role on the battlefield than ordinary soldiers, such as gunners, snipers, or engineers, tend to be subject to interrogation. And there is a great risk that they will then suffer acts of torture. That said, the beating upon arrival in the detention center can happen to anyone. »
The report does not evade the issue of abuses committed by the Ukrainian armed forces. Several cases have been reported, including executions of unarmed Russian soldiers. kyiv, which unlike Russia has given full access to its prisons to investigators, said it would launch investigations. But, nuance the UN, nothing has progressed for the moment in this file.
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