Hungary practically holding former Ukrainian POWs captive - Ombudsperson
Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, stated this on the air of the national telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"In fact, they are in isolation, they have a limited circle of communication, their mobile phones have been seized. We know that relatives have visited some of them. Again, we don't know how the communication took place or how long it lasted – no details whatsoever," the ombudsman noted.
Answering the question of what Ukraine is doing so that these soldiers return home, Lubinets said that Ukrainian diplomats are primarily working on the issue.
"We are really trying to establish contact with eight former prisoners of war, citizens of Ukraine. We know where they are, but we do not understand Hungary's position, why our diplomats have not been allowed to visit them until now. And we don't know why these citizens of Ukraine, being on the territory of Hungary, are actually in the same situation as prisoners of war," said the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights.
He said Hungary had violated international humanitarian law because it is impossible to simply take prisoners of war from the territory of the Russian Federation.
"Even if they had some humanitarian reasons, first of all they should have informed Ukraine. Second, they had to inform the ICRC. This morning I had a separate meeting with the head of the ICRC mission in Ukraine, and I separately asked: has there been any information from Hungary or the Russian Federation regarding the transfer of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war to the territory of Hungary? The answer was that they learned about it only through public channels, when these reports appeared in mass media," the ombudsman noted.
Separately, he explained that these persons are considered prisoners of war in the territory controlled by one of the parties to the international military conflict, that is, the Russian Federation.
"As soon as the Russian Federation transferred them to the territory of Hungary, even in violation of international humanitarian law, they are automatically legally no longer considered prisoners of war," Lubinets said.
The Ombudsman stated that the Ukrainian soldiers no longer have the legal status of prisoners of war, but in fact Hungary treats them as such: "Then I don't understand why they impose restrictions on them. They are free citizens. They have not committed any criminal offences. We do not know why Hungary does not allow Ukrainian diplomats to visit them."
As an example, the Human Rights Commissioner cited the situation of Turkey, which previously initiated the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war. According to him, the representatives of Turkish authorities immediately informed Ukraine, and Ukraine was part of the negotiations, as well as the entire transfer of Ukrainian servicemen from the Russian Federation to Turkey was accompanied by the Ukrainian side.
"There, on the territory of Turkey, diplomats were immediately granted access, and the authorities of Ukraine were given the opportunity to meet them. That is, they showed that the state really cares about the rights of former prisoners of war. Instead, Hungary continues to behave like a unit of the Russian Federation, also holding our soldiers in captivity, in a limited, restricted capacity, without any explanation," he said.
Answering the question of whether he is aware of how these soldiers got to Hungary, the ombudsman noted that at the moment he has no such information.
"Into this fact, I wrote a letter separately to the ombudsman of Hungary and separately to the ombudsman of the Russian Federation, asking them to inform me how – in a strange way – the prisoners of war from the Armed Forces of Ukraine made it from the territory of the Russian Federation and into the territory of Hungary – be it by air or someone transferring them otherwise. And I'm still waiting for the answers," said Lubinets.
As reported, on June 9, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine summoned Hungary’s charge d’affaires in Ukraine, handing him a request to provide detailed information about the Ukrainian prisoners of war handed over by Russia and to immediately ensure consular access to these citizens.
It was also reported that the Ukrainian government had not been informed about the relevant negotiations held by the Hungarian and Russian parties. The Ukrainian side found out about the fact that Russia handed over 11 Ukrainians of Hungarian origin to Budapest from the public statements of the Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary Zsolt Semjen to the Hungarian mass media.
Currently, with the assistance of the Embassy of Ukraine in Hungary, three Ukrainian citizens from among the prisoners of war handed over from Russia have made it back to Ukraine.
