Ombudsman Lubinets: ICRC hasn’t arrived at demarcation line where Ukrainian delegation was waiting

As Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, posted on Facebook, he, a group of MPs, and adviser to the Head of the President's Office, Darya Zarivna, arrived at the demarcation line with the temporarily occupied territory.

"We planned to make this visit, as promised by the Ukrainian side, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross to encourage them to get access to Olenivka from Russia and visit Ukrainian prisoners of war... Despite our call and readiness to ensure such a trip, we did not see the ICRC," Lubinets wrote.

At the same time, it is noted on the ICRC’s website that its team of 11 staff, including one doctor, “is ready in Donetsk to visit any prisoners of war held in the area, including at the Olenivka penal facility.”

The organization states that its representatives are ready to visit all prisoners of war if they are granted access.

“Today, the ICRC still does not have unimpeded and repeated access to all prisoners of war in this international armed conflict. This is despite nearly eight months of persistent demands by our teams to visit all places of detention and internment,” the statement reads.

The organization underscores that the states involved in international armed conflict and the detaining authorities are obliged to treat them humanely in line with the Geneva Conventions and to give the ICRC access to all of them.

“We will never stop demanding access to prisoners of war until we are able to see all of them not just once, but repeatedly, wherever they are held,” the ICRC emphasizes.

As reported, Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak demanded the International Committee of the Red Cross send its mission to the Olenivka penal facility in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region, where Ukrainian prisoners of war are held, by October 17. He noted that Ukraine would contribute to this mission in every possible way and was ready to join it.

Photo: Dmytro Lubinets, Facebook

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