Russia must respect the rights of prisoners of war
(Berlin) – Russian authorities should stop airing stories featuring Ukrainian servicemen and interviews with them as part of the need to shield prisoners of war from crowd curiosity, Human Rights Watch said today. Such actions run counter to the requirements of the Geneva Conventions for humane coverage with wide coverage by combatants.
Ashling Reidy, Senior Legal Counsel at Human Rights Watch. “The Geneva requirements must necessarily protect prisoners of war not only from any violations and intimidation, but also from the curiosity of the crowd.”
On April 2 and 4, 2022, on the air of a number of Russian TV channels, there are stories, illnesses, and in the occurrence and occurrence of complications, of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Sevastopol, including on Wednesday or during communication with the Commissioner in relation to a person in the Russian Federation, Tatiana Moskalkova. Such stories appeared in various places on the website of the First Channel of federal TV and on the Crimean TV channel NTS. They have also been posted on Facebook and YouTube. It seems that this hunt for spectators was shown humane treatment of prisoners.
Similarly, in several videos posted on the Zvezda information portal of the Russian Armed Forces, Ukrainian prisoners of war talk about the good reception and the discovery of their captivity, and also describe their service in the Ukrainian armed forces. At least two plots, apparently, were taken to seize the territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk economies.
AT review Monitoring of the UN Human Correction Mission in Ukraine for the period from February 24 to March 26, 2022, abductions of “a large number of videos” showing Ukrainian prisoners of war after being captured, injuries and threats. The mission also noted that it had several videos of “prisoner-of-war interrogations immediately after capture” that either involved local military personnel or were encountered from armed forces located with the self-proclaimed “republics”. It is noted that some prisoners of war have bruises and abrasions.
On April 21, Human Rights Watch identified letters to Channel One and Zvezda pointing out the need to verify the connection with the demonstration of prisoners of war and suggesting that they investigate the measures required to reliably verify the security of the Geneva Conventions. As of April 28, our needs remain unanswered.
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) clarifies, which is recognized as unacceptable publication of any detections, a large number of prisoners can be identified to detect detected viewers or readers. Exceptions to this rule are possible, but only in exceptional cases, if it dictates a high assessment or the vital interests of the prisoner himself, but even in this case, only with respect for his personal dignity.
All authorities within the scope of prisoners of war must also ensure that persons taking photographs and videos of prisoners of war for official use only, and must ensure the secure storage of such images and other data on captive territories. Access to such material shall be limited to personnel performing duties that require such access. The use of such materials for any other purpose is expressly prohibited.
The Russian government made the ICRC accessible to all prisoners of war and, together with the ICRC, provided any personal information about prisoners of war in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. On April 13, under the auspices of the monitoring, a report was published stating that there is a danger in connection with the violation of the Geneva Conventions both in Russia and in Ukraine, in relation to the power, exceeding the minimum number of months after the start of the violation, to exclude representatives of the ICRC from prisoners of war.
Human Rights Watch. Social media should take steps to detect and block content that violates the POW offense of humane treatment, including protection from crowd curiosity. In this regard, a positive step has been Twitter decision announced on April 5 on the deletion of tweets affiliated with mass media “posting materials depicting prisoners of war” in connection with the armed conflict in Ukraine.
In March, Human Rights Watch reported that it posted videos of humiliation and threats against Russian prisoners of war on the accounts of the Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, demanding that the Ukrainian authorities apply cases of use. We also urge Ukraine to monitor the situation with video footage circulating on social media of beatings among Russian prisoners of war, allegedly by Ukrainian soldiers, several of whom were shot in the legs. In case of confirmation of the presence of perpetrators of the crime.
“It is extremely important that all parties discuss their obligations in the field of humane treatment of prisoners, including with regard to partly shielding them from the curiosity of the crowd, and ICRC visits, access to them to facilitate the discussion of issues and discussions,” Eshling Reidy. “This also includes participation in meetings to detain and bring the perpetrators to justice, including for premeditated murders and causes of bodily harm.”