PACE Testifies to Russian Torture of Ukrainian POWs Following Mass Execution of 16 Servicemen
On Wednesday, 2 October, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe unanimously adopted a resolution on ‘Missing persons, prisoners of war and civilians in captivity as a result of the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine’, which for the first time raises the issue of the release and further rehabilitation of Ukrainian prisoners, as well as the requirement for Russia to comply with international humanitarian law. Also, yesterday, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reported on the mass execution of 16 Ukrainian prisoners by Russians in the Pokrovske direction, which has been investigated as another war crime by the Russian army.
Representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War Oleh Slobodianyk said that only 6,000 military personnel are currently recognised by Russia as being in their captivity.
‘More than a thousand, according to our information, are also in custody, but the Russians do not recognise this,’ Slobodianyk said.
According to him, many unconfirmed civilians in enemy captivity is also a big problem. According to Ukraine, there are more than 14,000 of them, while only 1,300 have been confirmed.
‘In the course of exchanges, we managed to release only 167 civilians. This indicates a serious problem, a violation by Russia of all international law and conventions There are no realistic mechanisms for return, so we need the help of international organisations,’ he stressed.
Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, who joined the discussion online, noted that interstate tribunals do not have jurisdiction to consider cases involving torture, abuse and deaths of Ukrainian prisoners.
‘At the same time, we are actively cooperating with the International Criminal Court, which has already issued six arrest warrants for the Russian leadership. And the ICC can play a decisive role in this case by bringing to justice the main perpetrators, those who designed the torture chambers,’ Kostin said.
He emphasised that the killings and torture of prisoners are not an accident, but a deliberate policy of Russia, and that it is necessary to document all crimes and disclose information about them on a regular basis.