In its latest report to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday the independent international commission set up to investigate human rights violations in Ukraine has uncovered further evidence of widespread torture by Russian authorities directed against both Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war, with instances being reported in both Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine territories and within Russia itself.
The commission said that the extent of the geographic spread of torture and the appearance of the same methods and common patterns of abuse led them to conclude that the practice was systematic, and that the Russian perpetrators saw torture “as a common and acceptable practice with a sense of impunity.”
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“One element is the consistency of violent practices imposed in detention centers where detainees from Ukraine have been held in the Russian Federation, and the replication of these practices in several large penitentiary centers in occupied areas of Ukraine,” the report says.
Another shared element according to the latest findings was: “The recurrent use of sexual violence, mainly against male victims, as a form of torture in almost all of these detention centers.”
The commission concluded, after hearing testimonies from former prisoners, that prison staff in Russia were being issued orders to carry out ill-treatment by senior Russian officials.
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It said as many as 90 percent of Ukrainian prisoners of war had experienced some level of physical and psychological torture while held in Russian captivity. The commission also found evidence of execution of POWs which supports Ukraine’s accusations that it was happening in contravention of international law.
One civilian victim is quoted by the commission as saying: “The scariest thing was that the perpetrators were doing everything in silence, and very professionally. I understood they were doing this to many people, and they no longer saw us as human beings.”
The report says that much of the torture and general ill-treatment has left many victims with severe, and in some cases, irreversible physical and psychological injury that impacted both on them and their families after being released. Many found returning to society and rebuilding relationships with loved ones extremely challenging.
The report also documents attacks using explosive weapons on civilian objects in populated areas including attacks on healthcare facilities, cultural sites, residential buildings, and supermarkets in Ukraine-controlled areas.
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine was established by the Human Rights Council in March 2022, immediately after Russia’s full-scale invasion, to investigate all alleged violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law in the context of Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine. The commission’s mandate has been renewed twice in 2023 and 2024 and is likely to be extended each year that the war continues.
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