United Nations: Russia has arrested hundreds of civilians since the war began
Russian actors have tortured hundreds of civilians since the attack on Ukraine, according to a report by the UN Human Rights Office. 77 were killed, the head of the UN human rights office in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, said on Tuesday. “This is a war crime.” Some of these killings were mentioned in a report in December.
In a report, the office documented 864 cases of people who were arrested by the Russian side since the beginning of the war in February 2022 and up until May 2023, mostly in occupied territories. Among them were public figures, humanitarian workers, priests and teachers. Almost all reported torture.
On the Ukrainian side, the office documented 75 cases of arrested civilians. Most of them also reported mistreatment and torture. Russia and Ukraine both violated international law with the arrests. Ukraine has passed laws to allow arrests on suspicion of helping the enemy. But the powers went too far.
“The Russian armed forces, law enforcement and correctional authorities have tortured and ill-treated civilian prisoners on a large scale,” Bogner said. No arrests of civilians are known of fighters from the Wagner Group, who made headlines at the weekend with an armed uprising in Russia that was later stopped. However, the Bureau has previously reported cases of ill-treatment and torture of Ukrainian POWs, i.e. combatants, in Wagner custody.
The Office only counts cases where it was able to clarify the circumstances itself. The true number of civilians being held may be more than twice as high, Bogner said.
Ukrainian authorities have granted access to all detention centers and detention camps with one exception and enabled confidential discussions with detainees. Despite numerous requests from the Russian side, there was no access to captured civilians. The office has spoken to more than 1,100 people, some after their release, and has visited Ukrainian detention centers 70 times.