UN accuses Russia of routine torture in Ukraine

Russian authorities systematically torture Ukrainians in areas of the country under Moscow’s control, the United Nations reported Monday. The UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine presented its latest preliminary findings from its investigations to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Sept. 23. The commission alleged that Russian authorities routinely employed violence against civilian detainees and prisoners of war in many detention facilities in Ukraine.

What kind of torture was involved? The cases of torture the commission documented included instances of sexual violence against male inmates, as well as sexual violence against women in occupied towns and villages, commission chairman Erik Møse said Monday. Doctors often neglected to treat injuries that Russian torturers inflicted on Ukrainians and in some cases even participated in the torture, Møse said. The commission alleged that similar torture methods were used across a variety of detention facilities investigators examined, suggesting the behavior was systematic.

What does Russia have to say in response? Russia has persistently refused to work with the commission to investigate human rights abuses, chairman Møse said. The Kremlin previously accused Ukraine of committing human rights abuses against Russian soldiers in Ukraine. It also accused the West of casting a blind eye toward Kyiv’s human rights violations and called for the UN to investigate what Russia characterizes as arbitrary arrests and forced disappearances in Ukraine.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report about how the European Union is funding a new branch of the International Criminal Court dedicated to punishing Russian war crimes.