Both parties to conflict in Donbas involved in war crimes – Amnesty International
Both parties to the conflict in Donbas are involved in the war crimes, in particular in torture of the captives.
Krasimir Yankov, researcher of Amnesty International in Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus, said this at the briefing in Kyiv, presenting the organization’s annual report on human rights in the world in 2015-2016, UNIAN news agency reports.
“Both sides have committed war crimes, including torture and ill-treatment of the captives. According to the reports, confirmed by our research, the separatists deliberately killed Ukrainian prisoners of war,” Yankov said.
The report says that Ihor Branovytsky, one of 12 Ukrainians defending Donetsk airport, was taken prisoner by the separatist Sparta battalion on 21 January. He was beaten unconscious during his interrogation and killed with a shot in the head by the battalion’s commander, who later admitted in a phone interview to having killed 15 other captives.
Members of Ukrainian forces Andriy Kolesnyk, Albert Sarukhanyan and Serhiy Slisarenko were last seen alive in footage showing them being taken captive in the village of Krasny Partizan on 22 January. They all died shortly afterwards from gunshot wounds, shot at close range.
The Ukrainian military also have resorted to tortures. A former prisoner reported spending several weeks in captivity in a crowded basement cell, in a building near the village of Velykomykhailivka that was used as a base by Pravy Sektor paramilitaries. Prior to his release in early 2015, he and at least 12 men and one woman had been imprisoned for varying periods of time in the same cell, and subjected to daily beatings and other ill-treatment.
As reported, Amnesty International says human rights are in jeopardy worldwide.
