UN rights office documents 864 arbitrary detentions by Russia

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) – The UN human rights office said on Tuesday that it documented 864 arbitrary detentions by Russia, "many of which also amounted to enforced disappearances" during its ongoing war in Ukraine.

Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, told a UN press briefing in Geneva that the report on arbitrary detentions covers 15 months from February 2022 to May 2023.

"We documented over 900 cases of arbitrary detention of civilians, including children and elderly people. The vast majority of these cases were perpetrated by the Russian Federation. We documented the summary execution of 77 civilians while they were arbitrarily detained by the Russian Federation. Some of these cases were included in our report on killings published in December," she said.

Bogner added that 75 cases of arbitrary detention by Ukrainian security forces were also included in the report.

"Ukraine gave us unimpeded confidential access to official places of detention and detainees, with one exception," she said. "The Russian Federation did not grant us such access, despite our requests."

The findings in the report are based on 1,136 interviews with victims, witnesses, and others, 274 site visits, and 70 visits to Ukrainian authorities' official prison facilities, she added.

"I conclude by reiterating our request to the Russian Federation to grant United Nations human rights monitors full and unfettered access to all areas of Ukraine which it occupies," she urged.