Ukraine: Oral statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council

Mr President, esteemed members of the Council,

The International Federation for Human Rights and its Ukrainian member organisations — the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group and the Center for Civil Liberties — wish to thank the Commission of Inquiry for its important update, highlighting the international crimes committed by the Russian armed forces in Ukraine.

We remain alarmed about the widespread arbitrary detention and severe ill-treatment of civilians in the territories occupied by the Russian Federation, which might, in numerous cases, amount to the crimes against humanity of unlawful imprisonment, enforced disappearance and torture.

The Tribunal for Putin initiative has documented over 1.000 cases of torture against detained Ukrainian civilians who have been released, with thousands more remaining in Russian prisons. Additionally, hundreds of interviews conducted with released prisoners of war indicate that POWs detained by Russia endure severe torture, including beatings with rubber truncheons, wooden bats, etc., electric shocks using tasers or attaching live wires to the bodies of victims, and fake executions by shooting.

FIDH and its member organisations in Ukraine therefore call on all UN Member States to place human rights at the heart of any peace negotiations by calling for the immediate release of all Ukrainian civilians detained by Russia; the repatriation of all POWs; and the liberation of Russians repressed for supporting Ukraine.

We also call on all UN member States to ensure justice by supporting all ongoing accountability efforts — including the investigations of the International Criminal Court, the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, and all ongoing investigations based on extra-territorial jurisdiction.