The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine announced that they hold "credible information" that Ukrainian forces have committed mistreatment of Russian prisoners during the war.
Matilda Bogner, head of the UN mission, said on Tuesday that they obtained "credible information oftorture, ill-treatment and incommunicado detention by Ukrainian Armed Forces of prisoners of war belonging to the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups."
She added that the ill-treatment is being conducted among captured Ukrainian and Russian soldiers who are forced to perform humiliating acts, statements, confessions, and apologies.
"This violates fundamental rules of international humanitarian law. Ukraine and Russia must promptly and effectively investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners of war," Bogner stated.
The UN official also urged both camps to "effectively control" and "instruct" their forces to seize further violations from happening, as per a report from The Hill.
Throughout the battle, Ukraine and Russia have traded prisoners several times, resulting in the return of scores of Ukrainians and Russians to their respective troops.
UN Urges Both Camps To End Hostilities
According to Bogner, the UN has discovered at least 204 incidents in which Russian authorities took Ukrainians, mostly men, to Belarus before reaching Russia for pre-detention proceedings.
She suggested that the "best way" to stop the violations is to "end the hostilities." Though Bogner also reminded Ukrainian and Russian troops to spare civilians.
"However, while they are ongoing and for as long as they last, parties must in the conduct of operations take constant care to spare the civilian population, civilians and civilian objects and commit to protecting every civilian woman, man and child and those hors de combat that fall under their control," Bogner noted.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission also accused Russia of war crimes such as going after civilians, abusing women, and forcing civilians to flee Ukraine for Russia.
Violations Caught On Cam
In late March, the UN Human Rights Commission released a report detailing 45 cases of ill-treatment and torture perpetrated by civilians, policemen, and members of Ukraine's territorial defense forces. According to the report, a "large number" of the recordings it examined documented the offenses, which targeted pro-Russian soldiers, raiders, curfew breakers, and several others in Ukraine-controlled territory.
The report pointed out the concern of the proliferation of publicly available online footage showing interrogations of POWs by Ukrainian forces following their arrest. POWs are forced to apologize to Ukrainians, trash their command, admire Ukrainian armed forces, or call on families to halt the war, according to the National Post.
The report also stated that a captured Russian soldier was allegedly "threatened with castration on tape."
The New York Times reported that Ukrainian forces had used illegal cluster bombs at least two times. The United Nations has stated that Ukraine must investigate the occurrences to ensure that those responsible for using these bombs are made liable.
Per UN media release, Bogner's remarks came ahead of a Human Rights Council special session on Ukraine set for Thursday in Geneva. To date, the Council has conducted 34 special sessions.
During an urgent debate on Russia's invasion of Ukraine during the last regular session, members resolved to create an impartial international commission of inquiry to investigate all alleged human rights abuses related to the war.