Bi-Weekly Press Briefing: Monitoring Mission In Ukraine OHCHR

The head of the UN Human rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, today gave an update on human rights concerns to the Geneva press briefing. Speaking via Zoom from Odesa, Bogner noted that every day she and her hearing from victims who have suffered human human rights violations in the context of the armed conflict, which escalated following the armed attack of the Russian Federation.

With regard to prisoners of war, Bogner said the Mission had documented a range of violations. The Mission has been granted unimpeded access to places of internment and detention in territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine. However, the Russian Federation has not provided access to prisoners of war held on its territory or in territory under its occupation, including areas controlled by its armed forces and affiliated armed groups.

Bogner said they were also following the cases of several pregnant prisoners of war interned in places controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups.

“We urge the Russian Federation, as the detaining power, to consider the immediate release of these women on humanitarian grounds,” said Bogner.

“In Government-controlled territory, we have also documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war, usually upon capture, during initial interrogations or transportation to camps for internment,” she added.

While Crimea, occupied by the Russian Federation since 2014, has received less attention in recent months, Bogner said they had seen  a significant deterioration in the situation there.

“This includes restrictions on the exercise of fundamental freedoms, torture and ill-treatment, enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests, and violations of the right to a fair trial, as well as lack of accountability for such human rights violations. We are concerned that patterns of human rights violations documented in Crimea since 2014 may be repeated in territory newly occupied by the Russian Federation across Ukraine,” she explained.

In Crimea, the Russian Federation continues to clamp down on freedom of expression by applying vague and ill-defined legislation, penalizing real or perceived criticism of the Russian Federation or its armed forces. Since March, Bogner said they had documented the prosecution of 89 individuals in Crimea for what was termed “public actions directed at discrediting the armed forces of the Russian Federation”.

“Teachers in Crimea who refused to endorse the so-called – and I quote - “special military operation” face retaliation and sanctions. Human rights defenders have been arrested and prosecuted for their work, and defence lawyers intimidated,” she said.

The Mission has also documented arbitrary arrests and torture of individuals apprehended in the Russian-occupied Kherson region and transferred to Crimea.

“In addition, men who cross the administrative boundary line from mainland Ukraine to Crimea are subjected to so-called ‘filtration’ by the Russian Federal Security Service at checkpoints. According to credible reports received by our Mission, this exposes them to the risk of enforced disappearance, arbitrary arrest, torture and ill-treatment,” said Bogner.

“Crimean Tatars continue to face intimidation and harassment, police raids and house searches, and prosecution under terrorism and extremism-related offences in proceedings, which often fall short of human rights standards. Furthermore, Crimean Tatar detainees continue to be deported to remote areas of the Russian Federation to serve their sentences,” she added.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine will continue to document and report the facts on the ground and the voices of victims. This was an essential part of seeking to prevent further violations and to hold those accountable for the violations already committed, Bogner said.  More of the Mission’s findings on the impact of the armed attack by the Russian Federation on human rights in Ukraine will be included in the next report due to be issued on  27 September.