UNITED NATIONS — According to a panel of human rights experts endorsed by the United Nations, the torture of Ukrainian citizens and prisoners of war by Russian authorities constitutes a crime against humanity. Erik Møse, who chairs the independent commission focused on human rights abuses in Ukraine, shared with the media that earlier assessments indicated Russia’s extensive and systematic application of torture against both male and female civilians and detainees, qualifying it as a war crime.
“Our latest discoveries illustrate that all areas of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces have witnessed acts of torture, in addition to detention facilities analyzed within the Russian Federation,” Møse remarked.
The Russian Mission to the U.N. declined to comment on the commission’s findings or the press event. Established by the U.N. Human Rights Council based in Geneva, the commission serves a critical investigative function. Møse emphasized that Ukraine’s chief prosecutor and the International Criminal Court are currently probing potential war crimes and crimes against humanity within Ukraine, thereby possibly requiring the commission’s corroborating evidence.
The commissioners reviewed data from 41 various detention facilities ranging from makeshift sites to more established locations across nine occupied regions of Ukraine, along with eight places in Russia, Møse reported.
He added that indications suggest that violent methods typically employed in Russian detention centers were similarly adopted in occupied areas of eastern Ukraine. The findings also included alarming evidence of sexual violence that has been recurrently utilized as a means of torture, Møse highlighted.
Detainees have reported experiences of rape, prolonged forced nudity, invasive searches, and other forms of violence, as explained by commission member Vrinda Gover. Most prisoners of war indicated enduring sexual violence that led to lasting psychological harm.
Gover noted that Ukrainians held in both Ukraine and Russian detention facilities detailed undergoing a “brutal so-called admission procedure.”
“Inhumane practices aimed at terrorizing, breaking, humiliating, coercing, and punishing detainees were commonplace,” she stated. Surveillance devices monitored detainees, and severe collective punishments were enforced for any rule infractions. Gover also revealed that interrogations were often accompanied by extremely violent treatment.
Pablo de Greiff, another member of the commission, informed reporters that they now possess evidence reflecting the organizational framework that facilitated and coordinated torture within the detention settings.
“Additionally, it has come to light that those in charge of detention centers or higher-ranking officials in Russia either ordered, encouraged, neglected, or failed to take steps to halt such torture or ill-treatment,” de Greiff added.
Møse stated that their findings reveal a direct transfer of violent practices from Russian security forces to facilities they control in occupied regions of Ukraine.
“This evidence leads us to conclude that Russian authorities engaged in a coordinated state policy aimed at torturing Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war,” he affirmed. “Thus, besides constituting torture as a war crime, it qualifies as a crime against humanity as well.”