United Nations trusted 77 summary executions of detained civilians arbitrarily by Russia in the territories it occupies in Ukraine since the start of its invasion on February 24, 2022, according to a report published on Tuesday.
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented 864 cases of arbitrary arrest He stressed that “Russian armed forces, law enforcement authorities and prisons have carried out widespread acts of torture and ill-treatment of civilian detainees.”
The report, prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukraine and presented on Tuesday in Geneva, covers the period from February 24, when the Russian invasion began, to May 23.
It documents a total of more than 900 cases of arbitrary detention of civilians. Including children and the elderly. And the vast majority of such cases were committed by the Russian Federation.
On the Ukrainian side, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights documented “75 cases of arbitrary detention by the Ukrainian security forces, especially of individuals suspected of committing crimes related to the conflict.”
“A large proportion of these cases were also cases of enforced disappearance, mainly carried out by the Ukrainian Security Service,” she added.
More than half of the people arbitrarily detained were subjected to torture or ill-treatment by the Ukrainian security forces. This happened during the interrogation of individuals and usually immediately after their arrest.”
OHCHR’s findings are based on 1,136 interviews with victims, witnesses and others, 274 visits to facilities and 70 visits to official places of detention by the Ukrainian authorities, which provided “free and confidential access to all official places of detention”. prisoners, except for one.”
The Russian authorities did not allow any access, despite the High Commissioner’s requests.
