Human Rights Watch accuses Russia of new war crimes in its conflict with Ukraine.A report published this Thursday indicates that Russian forces have killed at least 15 Ukrainian soldiers trying to surrender since December 2023, “and perhaps six others who were surrendering or had already surrendered.” The NGO specializing in the defense of human rights calls for investigations for “war crimes” to be opened into these incidents.
“Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces have committed numerous heinous war crimes,” said Belkis Wille, deputy crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. “Summary executions – that is, murders – of Ukrainian soldiers, shot in cold blood while surrendering or being wounded, in violation of international humanitarian law, are also part of this shameful list,” he said. she added.
Videos posted on social media
For this investigation, Human Rights Watch verified and analyzed several drone videos posted on social media appearing to show summary executions of Ukrainian soldiers by Russian soldiers. According to the NGO, the Ukrainian soldiers “clearly showed their intention to surrender” in each video and therefore no longer participated in hostilities. However, targeting these “hors de combat” soldiers by killing or torturing them constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.
This Human Rights Watch investigation comes after several United Nations reports of summary executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian armed forces. For its part, the International Criminal Court in The Hague opened an office in kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, last September, specifically to investigate war crimes allegedly committed by Russia.
Ukraine is also demanding the establishment of a special court to try senior Russian dignitaries for the crime of aggression. An international office had already been opened in The Hague last July to investigate Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In April, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, indicated in an interview with Deutsche Welle that this special court could see the light of day by the end of the year.
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