Evidence of torture of prisoners from Kherson region sent to The Hague

A new package of evidence of Russian war crimes against residents of Kherson region has been submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

According to Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko, it concerns the deportation and illegal detention of more than 1800 Ukrainian prisoners, most of whom were taken from Kherson and Mykolaiv regions to colonies in Russia.

According to the investigation and human rights activists, in November 2022, the Russian military organized the forced transfer of Ukrainian prisoners through the occupied Crimea to the territory of Russia. Evidence suggests that the operation was planned in advance, from the seizure of penitentiary institutions in the occupied Kherson region to the subsequent illegal detention of people in Russian colonies.

Victims and witnesses reported systematic beatings, torture, psychological pressure and threats of execution in Russian colonies. Ukrainian prisoners were also forced to build military fortifications for the Russian army and imposed Russian citizenship. Some people were illegally detained even after their sentences were completed or re-detained.

All these actions are qualified by human rights activists as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The basis for the appeal to the ICC was the testimony of more than 400 victims and eyewitnesses, as well as an analysis of decisions of Russian courts, official documents and responses from the Russian authorities.

The evidence base was prepared by the NGO Prisoners' Defense of Ukraine, the European Prison Litigation Network and the Kharkiv Human Rights Group.

Human rights activists emphasize that the transfer of materials to The Hague is an important step towards bringing Russian war criminals to justice for crimes against residents of Kherson region.

Recently, Intent wrote that in the temporarily occupied Oleshky on the left bank of the Kherson region, the Russian military forcefully took food from local residents.

Андрій Колісніченко