More than 95% of Ukrainian prisoners of war have experienced torture in the Russian Federation, and this constitutes a war crime.
This was stated by Danielle Bell, the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, in an interview for the Nieuwsuur programme on the Dutch channel NOS.
Bell said:
'They endure torture during the initial interrogation. They are beaten with metal sticks and batons, and are subjected to severe electric shocks. They are stripped naked. It is horrific. It is the worst thing I have seen in my 20-year career visiting prisoners on behalf of the UN. Torture is widespread and systemic. 95% of Ukrainian prisoners of war have experienced torture, and this is a war crime.'
Bell added that information about Ukrainian prisoners of war, when they do not have access to them, is collected during conversations after their return to their homeland.
She also noted that the treatment of Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine differs from what Ukrainian prisoners of war face in Russia.
Bell said:
'The Ukrainian authorities provide us with unrestricted access to camps and temporary detention facilities with prisoners of war. Although there have been some issues since the beginning of the invasion, over the last 1.5 years, we have observed conditions of detention that comply with humanitarian law of war.
