UN: “Dark politics” torture in the occupied territories of Ukraine

Nothing but luck is done by the Russian forces in the occupied territories of Ukraine, as not only are the evidence credible, but torture is done systematically and in different areas, which proves that they are a conscious political choice, estimates experts from the United Nations Organisation ( ). “The number of credible accusations of torture and other forms of abuse or abuse, inhuman or degrading punishment” shows that ” torture is an element of the political war on Russia,” said Alice Jill Edwards, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture. “ These serious crimes do not seem to happen to chance, ” she continued, in her speech to the UN Human Rights Council. Edwards, who visited Ukraine last September, told reporters that she learned from Ukrainian prosecutors that some 103,000 cases related to war crimes and crimes against humanity have been opened. 90% of them concern torture cases. UN expert added that she has also considered dozens of cases of alleged abusive practices on the part of Russian forces and their allies and that there is clearly “intention and purpose” in the practice of torture that cannot be described as “deviating or on occasion behaviour”. In the report she compiled after her visit to Kiev, Alice Jill Edwards says that “the torture was done in an organized and systematic manner” and that the same practices were applied in different occupied areas. Her conclusions, she told the Council, suggest a “direct approval and deliberate policy”. Edwards and the other special rapporteurs are independent experts entrusted with investigations by the Human Rights Council, but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations. She called on Moscow today to give a “clear directive” that torture is not acceptable and that perpetrators will be punished. Edwards, in which she was not allowed to go to Russia, also called on this country to launch investigations into the charges against her and to allow international inspectors to visit all the “delay of freedom” places and attend criminal trials. She assured that Ukrainian authorities are making an honest effort to treat prisoners of war with respect. However, her report raised many questions regarding detention conditions in a Lviv prison in western Ukraine, where Ukrainian citizens are detained who have been accused of working with the Russians. Edwards recorded “many accusations of abusive behaviour on the part of Ukrainian public officials”, mainly as regards the arrest and transfer of prisoners. “I call on the Ukrainian authorities to investigate these accusations quickly, strengthen disciplinary measures and other preventive measures and guarantee protection of all legal rights of all defendants and detainees,” he stressed.