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| Ukrainian Accounts of Torture Point to Systematic Russian Policy, Expert Says |
| 2023-09-11 |
| [NYT] Torture perpetrated by Russian officers against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war has reached such a level that it is clearly a systematic, state-endorsed policy, a United Nations expert on torture said Saturday. Witnesses shared accounts that were credible, said Alice Jill Edwards, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on torture, and that confirmed a consistent pattern of torture, including rape and beatings, in different detention facilities under Russian occupation and among Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russian forces. She spoke in an interview on Saturday as she wrapped up a seven-day visit to Ukraine. "This is not random, aberrant behavior," Ms. Edwards said. "This is orchestrated as part of state policy to intimidate, instill fear or punish to extract information and confessions." Her comments were one of the strongest condemnations implicating the Russian leadership by an independent expert since Russia’s full-scale invasion last year. She said she had reached out to Russian authorities at least seven times since receiving her mandate a year ago, drawing attention to the behavior of its troops and personnel in its detention facilities, but had received no response. Moscow has denied it practices torture, she said, but its refusal to address the issue, and the accumulating cases, amounted to tacit approval of its use. "Russian authorities have failed so far to send a directive to their soldiers and the military command informing them that torture and such types of detentions and interrogations are not acceptable," she said. "They deny they do it, but show me the military directive where torture is prohibited." |
| Posted by:Enver Slager8035 |