Over 16,000 civilians captured by Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 remain "deprived of their liberty," with many being held in violation of international law, an informal UN Security Council meeting has been told.
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According to UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Claudia Fuentes Julio, Russia has persisted in widespread, systematic torture and ill-treatment of both Ukrainian civilian detainees and prisoners of war, including cases of sexual violence.
Julio gave the estimates at the informal meeting of the UNSC — which includes Russia as a permanent member — called by Latvia and the UK on Monday to spotlight the condition of civilians and soldiers taken during the war that Russia launched in 2022.
Julio presented results of interviews UN human rights personnel conducted with 910 Ukrainian prisoners of war and 403 civilian detainees following their release.
More than 95% of the Ukrainian prisoners of war and 85% of the civilian detainees reported being tortured or ill-treated, often repeatedly, the UN official said.
They also reported being subjected to sexual abuse and food deprivation while being held in inhumane conditions and not being provided adequate medical services.
The Geneva-based human rights office “has documented the execution of 129 Ukrainian prisoners of war at the beginning of their captivity and the deaths of 48 Ukrainian prisoners of war in custody, resulting from torture, denial of medical care, or other inhumane conditions of detention,” Julio said.
The UN has not been permitted to visit Russian detention facilities, and its estimate of the number of people detained does not include a breakdown of adults and children.
Former detainees shared their ordeal
The Security Council also heard emotionally wrenching accounts from some former detainees who shared their ordeal.
Crimean Tatar human rights activist Leniie Umerova, who was Russia's political prisoner for almost two years, and Khuan Leyva Garsiya, a Ukrainian soldier who was among the hundreds who held out for months at the Azovstal steel plant in the besieged city of Mariupol before Russian troops took control in May 2022, shared their stories.
Garsiya, who was born in Mariupol to a Ukrainian mother and Cuban father, spent 1,183 days as a prisoner of war. He said he weighed 55 kilograms when he was freed, showing a picture of his emaciated body to the council.
Garsiya said he was tortured, heavily beaten and humiliated more than other prisoners because the Russians suspected that he was a foreign mercenary due to his Cuban ancestry or an American spy because he went to college in the US.
“Russians were outraged that someone with a connection to Cuba, whom they consider an ally, would fight against their occupation army,” said Garsiya, who is still part of the Ukrainian military.
UN human rights experts also interviewed 816 Russians and 57 third-country national prisoners of war from over 45 countries who were members of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine, said Julio.
About half reported ill-treatment, primarily during the initial stages of captivity and interrogation by Ukrainians, she said.
UN monitors however reported that once they arrived in Ukrainian detention facilities, “the conditions generally comply with international humanitarian law and have improved since 2022.”
Responding to the findings, Russia’s deputy UN Ambassador Maria Zabolotskaya told the council the Russian armed forces are complying with international humanitarian law, which includes the treatment of prisoners.
Volodymyr Pavlichenko, Kyiv's deputy UN ambassador, expressed his displeasure that Russia was not prepared to talk about the return of prisoners of war, "including their POWs," and all civilian detainees, including kidnapped children.