TRANSCRIPT
An investigative body mandated by the United Nations says it's found Russian forces tortured their Ukrainian victims so brutally that some of them died, and even forced families to listen as they raped women in adjacent rooms.
Erik Mose, Chair of the Inquiry Commission on Ukraine, told the U-N Human Rights Council in Geneva his team has collected further evidence indicating that the use of torture by Russian armed forces in areas under their control has been widespread and systematic.
"There are a lot of different kinds of violations that we have seen on the Russian side. Wilful killings, killing of civilians, rape, deportation of children, sexual offences in occupied territories, law against... other violations of the law in occupied territories, and so on. So, it's a wide spectrum and it's a large number within the spectrum."
The team says its evidence reveals crimes have been committed on both sides but adds that vastly more, and a wider array of abuses are being carried out by Russian forces than by the Ukrainian military.
The commission delivered its latest findings to the Human Rights Council, laying out its observations about unlawful attacks with explosive weapons, sexual and gender-based violence, and other crimes in the war, which has now gone into its 20th month.
Mr Mose says they have found the main targets of torture were people accused of being informants for Ukrainian forces, and the mistreatment even involves the use of electric shocks.
“Similar methods of torture were used across different facilities during interrogation sessions, mainly aimed at extracting information from the victims. This led to severe pain and suffering. A victim who suffered torture through electric shocks stated: 'Every time I answered that I didn’t know or didn’t remember something, they gave me electric shocks. I don’t know how long it lasted. It felt like an eternity.' In some cases, torture was inflicted with such brutality that it caused the death of the victims.”
Mr Mose says the report also documented a number of sexual crimes committed by Russian soldiers against women aged between 19 and 83 years of age and their families in the Kherson region.
“Further, the Commission has found that in the Kherson region, Russian soldiers raped and committed sexual violence against women of ages ranging from 19 to 83 years, often together with threats or commission of other violations. Frequently, family members were kept in an adjacent room, thereby forced to hear the violations taking place.”
Russia denies committing atrocities or targeting civilians in Ukraine.
The country has no representation in the U-N office in Geneva after being stripped of its seat in the 47-nation-member body last year due to its invasion of Ukraine.
Commission member Pablo de Greiff says if Russia would have provided them with more intelligence, it would have made their work a lot easier.
He says Russia could be committing crimes against humanity.
"The point to emphasise is, again, that we have found this to be a widespread and systematic practice using similar methods across different places, and the levels of brutality do sometimes reach the cause of death, causing the death of the victims. So, this is something that we are paying a lot of attention to. And we have argued that they may amount to crimes against humanity."
Meanwhile, Russia has dismissed Ukraine's genocide case in the International Court of Justice court as an abuse of process.
Kyiv filed its case two days after Russia invaded Ukraine claiming Moscow twisted the Genocide Convention to manufacture a pretext for last year's invasion.
It argues that the attack was based on false claims by Russia of acts of genocide in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of eastern Ukraine.
Representing Russia in court, Maria Zabolotskaya says the statements from the Ukrainian side are made for purely political purposes and should not be given any legal value or force in the interpretation of the Genocide Convention.
“Madam President, distinguished members of the Court, last week you have heard 33 states, including Ukraine, repeat over and over how Russia allegedly violated international law governing state sovereignty and state recognition, use of force, human rights, and other laws. None of these matters pertain to the Genocide Convention. These statements reveal the real goal of Ukraine and its supporters to drag this court into adjudicating matters plainly outside its jurisdiction.”
The court’s panel of international judges could take weeks or months to reach a verdict on whether Ukraine's case can proceed.
