UN panel says Russian torture of Ukrainians is a crime against humanity

UNITED NATIONS – Russia's torture of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war is a crime against humanity, UN-backed human rights experts say.

Erik Møse, chairman of the Independent Commission to Investigate Human Rights Violations in Ukraine, told reporters on Thursday that the body previously described Russia's widespread and systematic use of torture in Ukraine and Russia against civilians and prisoners, men and women, as a war crime have.

“Our latest findings show that the Russian authorities committed torture in all provinces of Ukraine under their control, as well as in the detention centers in the Russian Federation examined by the commission,” he said.

The Russian U.N. mission said it had no comment on the press conference or the report of the commission set up by the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council.

Møse said the commission is an investigative body. He noted that the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the International Criminal Court are investigating possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine and the commission may be asked for evidence.

The commissioners examined reports from 41 different detention centers, including temporary centers and established facilities, in nine occupied regions of Ukraine and eight areas in Russia, Møse said.

He said the commission found further evidence that violent practices common in Russian detention centers were also practiced in similar facilities in Russian-occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, he said.

The commission also found further evidence of the repeated use of sexual violence as a form of torture, Møse said.

The detainees were subjected to rape, long periods of forced nudity, strip searches and more, said Commissioner Vrinda Gover. She said most prisoners of war reported being subjected to sexual violence and suffering long-term psychological trauma.

Ukrainians in detention centers in Ukraine and Russia also reported “a brutal so-called admission process,” Gover said.

“Harsh practices aimed at intimidating, breaking, humiliating, coercing and punishing detainees were routinely used,” she said.

Surveillance cameras were used to watch detainees and harsh collective punishments were meted out to detainees for any violation of the rules, while “the interrogations involved some of the most violent treatment ever documented,” Gover said.

Commissioner Pablo de Greiff told reporters there was now evidence of the Russian organizational structure that coordinated and enabled torture in detention centers.

“Furthermore, the Commission now has evidence that prison management or other higher-level Russian authorities ordered, encouraged, tolerated torture or ill-treatment or failed to take measures to stop torture or ill-treatment,” De Grieff said.

Møse said the commission's investigation also found that the violent practices against detainees in Russia were transferred by Russian security forces and personnel to Russian-operated detention centers in Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine.

“Based on this evidence, we have concluded that the Russian authorities acted as part of a coordinated state policy of torturing Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war,” he said. “Therefore, in addition to torture as a war crime, they also committed torture as a crime against humanity.”

Lederer writes for the Associated Press.