By Peter Kenny
GENEVA (AA) - Ukrainians formerly held as prisoners of war by Russia and Russians held by Ukraine had been subjected to ill-treatment and torture, a UN rights official said on Tuesday.
Matilda Bogner said the mission had received credible allegations of summary executions of "persons hors de combat" and several cases of torture and ill-treatment, reportedly committed by members of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Bogner said at a UN press conference that over the past several months, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine interviewed 159 prisoners of war (139 men and 20 women) who were held by Russia.
Ukraine had given access to Russians held in the country, but Russia refused access to the prisoners of war.
These include affiliated armed groups and 175 prisoners of war (all men) held by Ukraine.
"We interviewed 20 women prisoners of war after they were released from the penal colony near Olenivka and other facilities in Donetsk and in the Russian Federation," said Bogner.
In the colony near Olenivka, women prisoners of war were not subjected to physical violence but were psychologically tormented by the screams of male prisoners of war being tortured in nearby cells, said the UN official.
- Ukraine gave access
"It is important to emphasize that Ukraine gave us confidential access to prisoners of war in places of internment, where we spoke to them," said Bogner.
"The Russian Federation did not grant us such access, so we conducted the interviews with Ukrainian prisoners of war upon their release."
She was referring to former Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia's hands.
"Immediately upon capture, some were beaten or had their personal belongings pillaged," Bogner said.
“The prisoners of war were then transported to places of internment in a manner that raises concerns," she added.
The UN official said they were often taken in overcrowded trucks or buses and sometimes lacked access to water or toilets for more than a day.
"Upon arrival at certain places of internment, prisoners of war were subjected to so-called 'admission procedures,' which frequently involved prolonged beatings, threats, dog attacks, being stripped and put into stress positions," said Bogner.
"Witnesses told us about the death of at least one prisoner of war during an 'admission procedure' in the penal colony near Olenivka in mid-April 2022,” she said.
- 8 alleged deaths
The UN office, she said, received information about eight such alleged deaths there in April 2022.
"The vast majority of those we interviewed told us that during their internment, they were tortured and ill-treated," said Bogner.
She said the prisoners of war described being beaten with batons and wooden hammers, kicked, and given electric shocks with Tasers and a military phone known as TAPik.
"We also documented cases of ill-treatment of Russian prisoners of war in a penal colony in Dnipropetrovsk region and in several pre-trial facilities, including so-called 'welcome beatings,'" said Bogner.
"In several cases, prisoners of war were stabbed or given electric shocks with the 'TAPik' military phone by Ukrainian law enforcement officers or military personnel guarding them," she said.
"One prisoner of war recalled: ‘We were most afraid of the military phone. The feeling was awful. Your whole body froze, and then you would fall on your side',” the UN official added.