Human Rights Watch, an organization that “investigates and reports on abuses happening in all corners of the world,” reported this weekend that civilians in southern areas of Ukraine were tortured and beaten by Russian forces, in horrendous acts which may amount to war crimes.
“Russian forces have turned occupied areas of southern Ukraine into an abyss of fear and wild lawlessness,” said Yulia Gorbunova, senior Ukraine researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Torture, inhumane treatment, as well as arbitrary detention and unlawful confinement of civilians, are among the apparent war crimes we have documented.”
According to the New York Times, “The report did not explicitly link the alleged abuses to Russia’s war aims, but Mr. Putin has cast Moscow’s invasion in February as a special military operation to rid Ukraine of Nazis, a line of argument that presents the war to a Russian audience as a noble mission.”
Russian authorities had no immediate response to the Human Rights Watch report; however, in the past Moscow has denied that its troops have mistreated noncombatants. Putin’s government claims their purpose for its missiles is to destroy Ukrainian military targets rather than civilians’ homes or businesses.
“People interviewed described being tortured, or witnessing torture, through prolonged beatings and in some cases electric shocks,” the Human Rights Watch’s report said, adding that injuries included severe burns; cuts; concussions; broken teeth; broken bones, including ribs; and broken blood vessels.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/24/world/europe/russia-torture-ukraine-human-rights-watch.html
https://www.hrw.org/about/about-us
“Russian forces have turned occupied areas of southern Ukraine into an abyss of fear and wild lawlessness,” said Yulia Gorbunova, senior Ukraine researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Torture, inhumane treatment, as well as arbitrary detention and unlawful confinement of civilians, are among the apparent war crimes we have documented.”
According to the New York Times, “The report did not explicitly link the alleged abuses to Russia’s war aims, but Mr. Putin has cast Moscow’s invasion in February as a special military operation to rid Ukraine of Nazis, a line of argument that presents the war to a Russian audience as a noble mission.”
Russian authorities had no immediate response to the Human Rights Watch report; however, in the past Moscow has denied that its troops have mistreated noncombatants. Putin’s government claims their purpose for its missiles is to destroy Ukrainian military targets rather than civilians’ homes or businesses.
“People interviewed described being tortured, or witnessing torture, through prolonged beatings and in some cases electric shocks,” the Human Rights Watch’s report said, adding that injuries included severe burns; cuts; concussions; broken teeth; broken bones, including ribs; and broken blood vessels.
Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/24/world/europe/russia-torture-ukraine-human-rights-watch.html
https://www.hrw.org/about/about-us
