Matilda Bogner, the head of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said there is “credible” information regarding the mistreatment of Russian prisoners by Ukrainian troops during the war.
“We have received credible information of torture, ill-treatment and incommunicado detention by Ukrainian Armed Forces of prisoners of war belonging to the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups,” Bogner said on Tuesday.
The “inhumane treatment” is occurring among captured Ukrainian and Russian soldiers as they are “being coerced to make statements, apologies and confessions, and other forms of humiliation.”
“This violates fundamental rules of international humanitarian law. Ukraine and Russia must promptly and effectively investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war,” Bogner said. “They must also effectively control and instruct their forces to stop any further violations from occurring.”
Ukraine and Russia have conducted multiple prisoner swaps throughout the war, with dozens of Ukrainians and Russians returned to their forces as a result.
The comments came at a press conference that was focused on the “plight of civilians in Ukraine.”
The presser accused Russia of multiple war crimes, including targeting civilians, raping women and forcing civilians to leave Ukraine and go to Russia.
Bogner says the U.N. has found at least 204 cases in which Ukrainians, overwhelmingly men, have been taken by Russian forces to Belarus before arriving at Russia for pre-detention trials.
“The best way to end the violations that we have been documenting will be to end the hostilities. However, while they are ongoing and for as long as they last, parties must in the conduct of operations take constant care to spare the civilian population, civilians and civilian objects and commit to protecting every civilian woman, man and child and those hors de combat that fall under their control,” Bogner said.