UN concerned about possible trials of Ukrainian prisoners of war
Show trials for prisoners of war Ukraine may soon take place in Mariupol. The UN human rights office fears death sentences.
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the essentials in brief
- Trials against Ukrainian prisoners may soon take place in Mariupol.
- The UN human rights office in Geneva fears death sentences and torture.
- There is also talk of metal cages in which the prisoners would be displayed.
According to information from the UN Human Rights Office, trials against Ukrainian prisoners could start in Mariupol in the coming days. The Ukrainian city was absorbed by Russia.
Bureau spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani referred to photos and videos in media in Geneva on Tuesday. These show how metal cages are built in the Mariupol Philharmonic. In which obviously prisoners of war are to be put on display.
Death sentences are to be feared, said Shamdasani. Reports to the Bureau suggest that Ukrainian prisoners have been tortured.
«We recall that international humanitarian law prohibits the establishment of courts exclusively for prisoners of war. It is a war crime to willfully deny a prisoner of war the right to due process,” Shamdasani said. Combatants who are considered prisoners of war cannot be tried for acts of war under international law, she said.
Number of prisoners still unclear
It is unclear how many of the process should be made, what is accused and how the court should be composed. The UN Human Rights Office requires access to the detainees for independent visitors. According to the separatist leader in Donetsk region Denis Pushilin, “investigations” were completed in 80 cases. He spoke in this context of 23 arrested.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is responsible for this. The ICRC says it has seen some POWs since the Russian attack began in February 2022, but not all. In many cases, access was denied or there were no security guarantees for the ICRC staff.
For weeks, the ICRC has been trying to gain access to survivors of the Olenivka attack in the conquered part of eastern Ukraine. Around 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in a camp there at the end of July. Moscow and Kyiv blame each other for the attack.
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