Amnesty International calls on Russia to respect Azovstal prisoners' rights under Geneva Conventions

Amnesty International shared their appeal.

Amnesty International Deputy Director in Eastern Europe and Central Asia Denys Kryvosheyev said that prisoners shouldn't be subjected to torture and ill-treatment. The Red Cross should be given immediate access to the Ukrainian defenders.

"While defending Mariupol, Ukrainian defenders were dehumanized by Russian media propaganda and served as 'neo-Nazis.' These circumstances raise serious concerns about the fate of Ukrainian combatants as prisoners of war who are in the temporarily occupied territory.

Amnesty International documented the killing of prisoners in eastern Ukraine by Russian-supported militias during the armed conflict in the Donbas in 2014-2015, and extrajudicial executions of Ukrainian civilians by Russian troops in the spring of 2022. The Ukrainian defenders, who were taken from Azovstal shouldn't meet the same fate.

Prisoners shouldn't be subjected to any form of torture or ill-treatment, they should immediately provide the International Red Cross representatives access to them. The authorities that keep Ukrainian combatants should comprehensively respect the prisoners' of war rights under the Geneva Conventions," said Denys Kryvosheyev.