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The UN denounced this Friday that Ukrainian prisoners of war in the hands of Russia or armed groups associated with Moscow are subjected to torture and ill-treatment, just like Russian prisoners.
According to the representative for Ukraine of the UN Human Rights Office, Matilda Bogner, the situation is “particularly alarming” in the Olenivka prison camp, in the Russian-occupied Donetsk province, which was bombed in July and which killed fifty detainees. including several Ukrainian soldiers who defended the city of Mariupol.
We have documented a number of violations against prisoners of war. We had full access to places of detention and internment in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government, but Russia did not give us access,” said Bogner, who spoke to reporters in Geneva via video link from Odessa.
Bogner stressed that there is reliable information that Ukrainian prisoners are beaten upon arrival at detention centers and that those suffering from hepatitis, tuberculosis or other diseases are not treated or are separated from the main group.
It is feared, he added, that the health situation will deteriorate and that there may be an infectious outbreak that is difficult to control.
On the other hand, Bogner said that the UN also has information on at least four pregnant prisoners of war and asked Russia to release them for humanitarian reasons, a request to which he received no response.
The UN has also documented cases of Ukrainian prisoners not allowed to communicate with their families to say that they were captured, or their location and state of health.
In this sense, Bogner highlighted that the specialized human rights offices that the UN has established throughout Ukraine receive numerous telephone calls daily from relatives seeking information on missing soldiers or civilians.
In contrast, Bogner noted that the UN has “wide access” to Russian prisoner-of-war detention centers in Ukraine, but noted that there are also situations of torture and mistreatment that occur frequently in the initial interrogations and during the transfer of the detainee to the penitentiary center.
However, Bogner stressed that Ukraine “generally complies” with humane treatment standards.
So far, the UN Human Rights Office has confirmed that 5,767 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and 8,292 wounded in the hostilities, though it is always careful to emphasize that the true figures are much higher.
On the other hand, the agency was able to verify that, since the beginning of the war, on February 24, 416 people were arbitrarily detained and disappeared in territories under Russian control, and that, of them, only 166 were released, while 16 were found dead. .
The UN also said it had documented that Ukrainian security forces carried out 51 arbitrary arrests, with 30 people reported missing.
Source: Observadora
