At a UN Security Council Arria-formula meeting on violations of international human rights law by Russia against Ukrainian POWs and civilian detainees, U.S. Deputy Representative to the United Nations Dorothy Shea warned members against becoming desensitized to what has occurred and is still occurring.
“For years we have heard unrelenting testimony of Russia’s shocking abuses and atrocities. We must not lose sight of how reprehensible and unacceptable they are.”
Ambassador Shea noted that reports from the UN Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism Experts Mission, and a variety of NGOs and other experts have offered overwhelming evidence of inhumane treatment.
“Their reports document Russia’s abuses against detained Ukrainians to include physical, psychological, and sexual torture. The United States has credible evidence that Russia systematically holds detainees incommunicado, often without access to adequate food, sanitation, or medical services. ... The United States assesses Russian forces continue to regularly torture and kill Ukrainian POWs, and we have seen an increase in reports of Ukrainian POW executions over the past year. ... The executions include shooting surrendering Ukrainian forces at close range and the brutality of beheadings and dismemberments.”
Ambassador Shea emphasized that as long as Russia continues this course, there must be no “business as usual” with the Russian Federation. She called efforts by some members of the Security Council to offer political cover to Russia — by urging Ukrainians “to meet Russia half-way” or “take seriously Russia’s legitimate security concerns” — both “absurd” and “wrong.”
“A victim should never be told to meet their aggressor half-way. There is no equivalency in this conflict. Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine its victim.”
“The Russian Federation must immediately cease its war of choice and its ill-treatment of prisoners of war and civilian detainees,” said Ambassador Shea. “Russia must hear — and heed — our calls to allow international humanitarian organizations access to POWs and civilian detainees, consistent with its obligations under the Geneva Conventions.”
Ambassador Shea underscored that as Security Council members, “we must insist on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. ... We must work together,” she declared, “to bring Russia’s unlawful invasion to an end and to support Ukraine in its pursuit of a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace consistent with UN Charter principles.”
