Ukraine calls on ICC’s Office of Prosecutor to document atrocities committed by Russians against Ukrainian POWs
Ukraine strongly condemns the brutal war crimes committed by the servicemen of the Russian Federation against Ukrainian prisoners of war, particularly horrible cases of torture, physical abuse, inhuman treatment, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health and willful killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
This is underscored in the statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
It is pointed out that willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health of Ukrainian prisoners of war are grave breaches of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War and are war crimes under the Criminal Code of Ukraine and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Under the Rome Statute such actions can also be qualified as crimes against humanity.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls on the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to immediately pay attention to the atrocities of Russian servicemen in the context of the investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by citizens of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine.
“All the violations of international law will be properly recorded and documented and will form the basis of appropriate investigations and prosecutions of their perpetrators,” the Ministry stresses.
The MFA also notes that the Russian side is obliged to ensure humane treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited.
“The emergence of information about brutal war crimes committed by the Russian servicemen against Ukrainian prisoners of war coincided with the commission of another war crime by Russia - the shelling of a correctional facility in the occupied Olenivka, where Ukrainian prisoners of war are believed to be held,” reads the statement.
As noted, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba calls on the international community to condemn the brutal violation of international law by the Russian Federation and to immediately recognize Russia as a terrorist state. He emphasized that any delay in this decision will only encourage Russia to commit further crimes and inhumane acts.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, together with other involved agencies, will continue to make efforts to bring Russian war criminals to the strictest accountability.
As reported, a video showing a Russian military torturing a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine appeared on the Internet. Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said that he had requested the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine to verify the fact and register the crime and was also preparing a report to international organizations.
According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on July 29, the Russians deliberately fired at the penal colony in Olenivka, where the Ukrainian prisoners of war were held.
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