At least 39 had signs that they were tortured before their death, reported the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in Geneva on Tuesday. He was referring to a new report from his team on the situation in Ukraine.
The figures given by Türk referred to the entire period since the beginning of Russia’s all-out war of aggression once morest Ukraine from February 24, 2022. “Torture and other cruel treatment are widespread in detention centers in the Russian-occupied territories,” said the Austrian diplomat .
“Many of the cases of torture we document involve sexual violence.” Russia does not allow the UN Human Rights Office teams into prison camps in the occupied territories, which is why documentation is difficult. Arbitrary arrests are the order of the day there. The teams would not be able to see Ukrainian prisoners of war. The families also heard nothing from their relatives.
The office is investigating six cases of Russian soldiers allegedly killing civilians in the occupied territories, Türk said. Russia has announced the arrest of two soldiers who are said to have killed a family of nine in the Donetsk region. Another Russian investigation is apparently underway. Türk reported that Russia sometimes forces Ukrainians in the occupied territories to fight in the Russian military once morest their own people.
By the end of November, there had been around 8,600 charges of collaboration once morest residents of occupied or liberated territories in Ukraine. There were verdicts in 941 cases. In many cases, people apparently only kept schools, social services or similar things running, said Türk. That is not a crime. Türk called on the Ukrainian authorities to narrow the definition of “collaboration.”
