Ukraine: Torture by Russian authorities amounts to crimes against humanity, says UN Commission of Inquiry

Previously, the Commission had concluded that the use of torture by Russian authorities constituted war crimes. Additional cases of torture against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war have established the use of torture in all areas under Russian control in Ukraine and in the detention facilities it has investigated in the Russian Federation.  

In its previous reports the Commission had established that the practice of torture by the Russian authorities was widespread. Common patterns also showed that it was systematic. These patterns concern the categories of persons targeted, the aim for which torture was used, and the methods employed.

The Commission has now identified additional common elements. They concern the replication of violent practices used in Russian Federation detention facilities to similar facilities in areas under Russian control in Ukraine. Former detainees described consistently the same harsh practices designed to scare, break, humiliate, coerce, and punish.

The evidence further demonstrates that Russian authorities have deployed specific services and security forces from the Russian Federation to various detention facilities in occupied areas they controlled in Ukraine. Those services and forces acted in a coordinated manner, and according to a specific division of labour, in perpetrating torture.

Further, sexual violence as a form of torture, mostly against male detainees, has been recurrent in detention facilities operated by Russian authorities. One of them stated that he was subjected to electric shocks with taser on his genitals at least six times.

Victims and witnesses made multiple references to the involvement of high-ranking detention facility officials, as well as to orders received by lower ranking personnel. Many of these officials perpetrated torture openly, with an apparent sense of impunity.

The Chair of the Commission, Erik Møse, said: “Based on our evidence, we have found that the Russian authorities have acted pursuant to a coordinated state policy of torturing Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war and therefore committed crimes against humanity.”

Victims described the physical pain and trauma, with long-lasting or irreparable consequences, and emphasised the immense psychological challenges they face.

The Commission also found that in detention facilities held by Russian authorities, there has been a general absence or denial of medical assistance to detainees who were injured, ill, or required treatment after torture. A Ukrainian soldier told the Commission that, after having suffered a serious injury from a blast, his requests for medical assistance were ignored. Due to delayed medical treatment, part of his foot had to be amputated.

Continuous, massive waves of attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against Ukraine’s energy-related infrastructure have resulted in blackouts, at times affecting millions of civilians. The power cuts have, among other consequences, curtailed the enjoyment of the rights to health and education, with severe effects on children, older persons, persons living with disability or a medical condition. They described feelings of distress, anxiety, and isolation.

The Commission has pursued its investigations of explosive weapons attacks that struck civilians and civilian objects, including medical and cultural objects that benefit from the protection of international law, on all sides of the frontline.

We reiterate the importance of judicial and non-judicial accountability. Identifying and prosecuting perpetrators of crimes is key to ending the culture of impunity and an integral part of victims’ sense of justice.

Read the full report here. 

The Members of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine are available for interviews.

Background: The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine is an independent body mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to, among other things, investigate all alleged violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, and related crimes in the context of the aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation. The Commission comprises Erik Møse (Chair), Pablo de Greiff and Vrinda Grover.

More information on the work of the Commission can be found here.  

For media requests and queries, please contact: In Vienna, Saule Mukhametrakhimova, Media Adviser, Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine; at saule.mukhametrakhimova@un.org, (+43 -1) 26060-83450 or (+43-676) 3493464; or in New York: Todd Pitman, Media Adviser for the UN Human Rights Council’s Investigative Missions, todd.pitman@un.org or (+41) 76 691 1761.