Amnesty International has published a report asserting that Russia’s conduct towards Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians detained within Ukraine and Russia constitutes war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity. The omissions and actions of Russian authorities, including the denial of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) notifications and family communications, are characterized as incommunicado detention, equating to inhumane treatment. The report exposes Russia’s non-compliance with international legal standards, as laid out in the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949 and the provisions highlighted by the ICRC on the treatment of civilian internees.
Amnesty’s research, gathered through interviews with 104 individuals in Ukraine, reveals that Russian forces have executed a significant number of Ukrainian POWs, with the Ukraine Human Rights Ombudsman reporting 177 executions, 109 in 2024 alone. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has noted a recent increase in such executions, corroborating accounts from former detainees of torture and denied medical treatment. In a related HRMMU report, it was found that the vast majority of interviewed former POWs were subjected to torture or ill-treatment, actions deemed consistent with war crimes. These findings raise significant questions about Russia’s adherence to the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, to which Russia is a signatory.
More details on this unfolding situation can be found in JURIST’s full article, available here.