Ukrainian accounts of torture ‘go way beyond rogue Russian troops’, UN warns

Exclusive: Russia ignores deadline to respond to UN letter triggering Moscow’s duty to investigate war crime allegations

Allegations of Ukraine’s civilians being snatched from their homes and abused in makeshift detention centres go “way beyond” the actions of rogue Russian soldiers, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture has warned.

Dr Alice Jill Edwards has written to Russian authorities detailing the accounts she has received of harrowing and widespread human rights abuses by Moscow’s troops in Ukraine since Vladimir Putin’s invasion – including electrocutions, mock executions and threats of genital mutilation.

The 22-page letter serves to put Russia on notice of the extensive war crimes allegations, and in effect triggers Moscow’s obligations to investigate them, as a party to the UN Convention Against Torture, and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Plastic ties for torture and a broken chair were pictured inside a basement in Kherson (REUTERS/Anna Voitenko)

But a two-month deadline to formally respond to the warning has now passed – with Russia failing to do so, while ignoring Dr Edwards’ requests for a meeting to discuss the allegations, as she prepares to embark on a fact-finding mission in Ukraine.

Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Dr Edwards warned that consistencies in the geographically widespread testimonies she has received “show not just a pattern, but really state authorisation” by Moscow.

“This is way beyond rogue Russian soldiers, or Russian soldiers believing that this is authorised and acting accordingly,” Dr Edwards said, warning that FSB security agents are alleged to have supervised torture practices delegated to lower-rank military officials in at least three detention centres.

Her letter warns Moscow that the alleged acts of torture would amount to “crimes against humanity” if proven to be systematic or widespread, and is co-signed by UN special rapporteurs and working groups on arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and the use of mercenaries.

Reacting to Moscow’s failure to respond, Dr Edwards said: “I am disappointed that Russia has not taken this opportunity to inform me – and therefore the whole international community – of action they ought to have taken, including to instruct their soldiers not to torture or use other unlawful means, and to launch investigations on the basis of the material presented.”

Dr Alice Jill Edwards assumed the post of UN special rapporteur on torture last August (UN Human Rights Council screengrab)

The Kremlin has consistently denied accusations of war crimes by its troops in Ukraine, where Kyiv’s prosecutor general’s office is reviewing more than 98,000 reports of such allegations, as the war continues to rage.

The UN experts allege that Russian troops have been targeting Ukrainian civilians in occupied areas since the invasion’s outset, particularly veterans, those deemed to be aiding Ukraine’s armed forces, critics of the war, and local authority officials.

Civilians are typically seized without a warrant at their homes or workplaces, by groups of between seven to 15 Russian troops and intelligence officials, but have also been seized in the streets and at Russian military checkpoints, the letter states.

Most were allegedly “transported blindfolded, with a bag over their heads” and “threatened, insulted, searched, and beaten”. Upon arrival at makeshift detention centres, many were forced to stand outside in “freezing temperatures, hands tied, without food and unable to use toilets”.

Debris lies on the floor of a building used by Russian forces where civilians said they were held and tortured, in Izium (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Russian authorities’ alleged refusal to acknowledge many detentions amounts to “enforced disappearances”, in what appears a tactic “used to spread terror and anguish among local population”, the UN says, adding: “Many families still do not know the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones.”

During interrogations “primarily geared” for obtaining details of Ukraine’s military strategy, or as punishment for supporting Kyiv’s forces and “[enforcing] loyalty” to Russia, torture methods would allegedly include electrocution with stun guns, and beatings, including with iron truncheons and hammers.

Detainees also allegedly suffered mock executions, threats of sexual violence, exposure to cold and bright light, and were deprived of food, clothing and medications, with some beaten for self-identifying as Ukrainian.

A graveyard of unidentified bodies in Bucha, where Russian troops were accused of summarily executing Ukrainians (Bel Trew/The Independent)

In one of four cases highlighted in greater detail, concerning detainees in Kharkiv and Donetsk, an entrepreneur and member of Izium’s local self-government body was seized at his home last August and held at a police station for nearly a month, in a tiny cell alongside up to eight others.

He was allegedly interrogated four times. In one two-hour session, during which he lost consciousness multiple times, he was electrocuted, had the barrel of a hunting rifle stuck in his mouth, and endured threats to shoot him in the kneecap, cut off his fingers and ears, and pull out his nails.

Russian soldiers are then claimed to have ordered him to expose his penis, before putting a knife to it and threatening to cut it off and rape him.

Following their detention, “many civilians reportedly suffered physical and psychological traumas, including bruises, hematomas, physical wounds, hallucinations, damages to internal organs, fractures and cracks in bones, extreme weight loss, sensory impairment as well as motor losses, strokes or exacerbation of chronic diseases”, the letter states.

Many require ongoing medical evaluation and treatment, and are facing serious financial constraints as a consequence, the UN experts warn.

In remarks to The Independent, Dr Edwards said: “At this stage, the consequences for Russia’s alleged violation of the torture prohibition remain primarily diplomatic and economic, rather than judicial.

“For this reason, it is important that relevant actors continue to document and collect forensic evidence of these alleged crimes for possible later prosecution, including of all those in the chain of command.”