Paris: Human Rights Watch is urging Ukraine to stop posting videos of captured Russian prisoners under duress, saying such treatment violated Kyiv’s international obligations.
Ukraine has paraded captured Russian soldiers before the media at news conferences in Kyiv, and these images have been spread via official accounts on social media and messaging apps. Such actions violate the Geneva Conventions that aim to provide a framework for humanitarian law in conflict, the US-based group said in a statement late Wednesday.
"Ukrainian authorities should stop posting on social media and messaging apps videos of captured Russian soldiers that expose them to public curiosity, in particular those that show them being humiliated or intimidated," it said. "Such treatment of prisoners of war violates protections under the Geneva Conventions intended to ensure dignified treatment of captured combatants on all sides," it added.
It said social media accounts of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had posted videos of captured Russian soldiers "who appear under duress or are revealing their names, identification numbers, and other personal information."
Similar videos has also been posted on accounts apparently run by the interior ministry, it added. "The Ukrainian authorities should stop posting these videos online," said Aisling Reidy, senior legal advisor at Human Rights Watch.
"The violations by Russian forces are pervasive and widespread, causing intense civilian harm," Reidy said. "At the same time, Ukraine has clear obligations that it must uphold, including lawful treatment of POWs." The group said it was still awaiting a reply to a letter sent to the Ukrainian authorities expressing concern.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin on Thursday rejected an order by the UN’s top court for Russia to suspend the military offensive in Ukraine, a day after judges in The Hague announced their ruling. "We cannot take this decision into account," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, adding that both parties -- Russia and Ukraine -- had to agree for the ruling to be implemented.
"No consent can be obtained in this case," Peskov said. The UN’s International Court of Justice ruled on Wednesday that Moscow should "immediately suspend military operations that it commenced on February 24 on the territory of Ukraine."
In a related development, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Germany to help destroy a new "Wall" Russia was erecting in Europe, speaking in an emotional video address to parliament on Thursday.
"It’s not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelensky told MPs. Appearing on a screen in his now trademark khaki T-shirt with dark circles under his eyes, Zelensky was welcomed by MPs in the Bundestag lower house with a standing ovation.
In a speech steeped in historical imagery from Germany’s triumph over its Cold War division, Zelensky addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly with a call for greater solidarity with Ukraine.
