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VIENNA – During 1000 days since the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has reported immense suffering caused by the wide variety of violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law, committed by the Russian Federation. These include the indiscriminate use of explosive weapons with wide area effects, the targeting of civilian objectives, some of them with protected status, the massive waves of attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and the forced transfer and deportation of children.
Marking the 1000th day of the war, the Commission wants to highlight its October 2024 report, where it concluded that torture committed by Russian authorities against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war amounts to a crime against humanity. Such crimes are among the most serious under international law. Torture by Russian authorities has been widespread, systematic, and committed as a coordinated state policy.
Over more than two mandates, the Commission has accumulated a body of evidence showing that Russian authorities committed torture in all regions of Ukraine where areas had come under Russian control or are still under Russian occupation, and in detention facilities in the Russian Federation. It identified a list of common elements in the way in which Russian authorities committed torture.
The Commission’s report describes the coordinated deployment and use of personnel and entities of the Russian Federation in detention facilities, with a division of tasks in the commission of torture. Regular personnel and special purpose units of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service were the main perpetrators of torture in official detention facilities investigated in the Russian Federation and in Russian occupied areas of Ukraine. Personnel of the Russian Federal Security Service had the authority during interrogations, where some of the harshest treatment was inflicted. Evidence collected also demonstrates that Russian authorities ordered, encouraged, or tolerated torture.
Further, sexual violence as a form of torture has been prevalent in detention facilities held by Russian authorities. Perpetrators used rape and attempted rape, beatings, electric shocks, and other attacks on genital organs, forced nudity, threats of sexual mutilation and castration, and intrusive body searches, against detainees, targeted individually or as part of a group. The majority of victims were men.
Russian authorities have generally denied much needed medical assistance to detainees and in some facilities, medical personnel have been involved in violent treatment of detainees or negligent acts.
The geographic spread and the gravity of the violations and crimes documented demonstrate an egregious and profound disregard by the Russian authorities for physical integrity and human dignity.
Victims of torture described the physical pain and trauma, with long-lasting or irreparable consequences, and emphasised the immense psychological challenges they face. Victims interviewed by the Commission expressed a vital need for justice to be done. A man, victim of sexual violence as a form of torture during detention, stated, “I want to confront my tormentors and demand an explanation for their violence, to gaze into their eyes and ask why they did all of that to us”.
The Commission reiterates the importance of judicial and non-judicial accountability, while taking into account victims’ needs, to end the culture of impunity and deliver justice for victims.
Read the full report here.
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 foundhere.
For media requests and queries, please contact: Saule Mukhametrakhimova, Media Adviser, Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine; at saule.mukhametrakhimova@un.org, (+43 -1) 26060-83450 or (+43-676) 3493464.