UN countries called on Russia to demand access to all captives
UN presented a report on the torture of prisoners by the Russian occupiers (Photo: twitter.com)
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has called on UN member states to demand that the Russian authorities provide access to independent observers to all places of detention and internment, said Daniel Bell, the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission.
She noted during the presentation of a new report on the human rights situation in Ukraine that the UN Monitoring Mission continues to document cases of arbitrary detentions, the extensive use of torture by the Russian occupation "authorities" against civilians and prisoners of war, and their cruel treatment.
According to Bell, since February of last year, they have documented arbitrary detentions of nearly a thousand individuals in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
"During this reporting period, we documented 43 such cases, but the real number is probably higher," she said.
Bell also mentioned that about 90% of the surveyed representatives of the UN Monitoring Mission who were detained in the occupied territories reported experiencing torture and cruel treatment while in custody. The same trend applies to Ukrainian prisoners of war.
"Survivor accounts describe incredible brutality, including horrific accounts of brutal beatings. In some cases, this led to broken bones, knocked out teeth," emphasized the head of the Mission.
Torture and war crimes by Russian occupiers
Previously, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, stated that torture by Russian forces against Ukrainians is part of the Kremlin's policy.
The head of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, Eric Mose, recently revealed that Russian torture methods in the occupied part of Ukraine were so brutal that some of its victims were tortured to death.
