Torture as a tactic: why the Russian army tortures Ukrainians en masse and how to bring criminals to justice
The press conference “Torture as a tactic: why the Russian army tortures Ukrainians en masse and how to bring criminals to justice” will be held on Thursday, April 27, at 11:00 a.m. (Kyiv time) / 10:00 a.m. CEST in the information agency “Ukraine Media Center Ukrinform” in Hall 1 (Kyiv, B. Khmelnytskoho str., 8/16, first floor). Human rights defenders will present a research on torture and ill-treatment of civilians in Ukrainian territories that were under Russian occupation.
The torture chamber in Balaklia. Photo: Dmytro Lubinets / FacebookThe number of war crimes that Russia has been committing since the beginning of the full scale war is already measured in the tens of thousands. Among them are mass cases of torture that became known after the liberation of the territories. Russia does this, in particular, in dozens of special torture chambers.
Why does the Russian Federation massively torture Ukrainians? Who is primarily persecuted and what torture methods are used to break civilians? What should the state and international structures do to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes?
Speakers:
- Oleh Hnatiuk, project manager at Human Rights Centre ZMINA
- Borys Petruniok, researcher at Human Rights Centre ZMINA
- Anatoly Garagaty, resident of Kharkiv region, victim of torture
- Serhii Pohorielov, resident of Kyiv region, victim of torture (online)
- Maria Kvitsinska, regional expert at World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) (online)
- Representative of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine
Moderator: Olga Atamanova, Ukraine Media Center Ukrinform
Organizers: Ukraine Media Center Ukrinform, Human Rights Centre ZMINA
The event will be broadcast online on the Facebook page of Human Rights Centre ZMINA, as well as on the YouTube channel of Ukraine Media Center Ukrinform in Ukrainian and English.
The Human Rights Centre ZMINA is a member of the Ukraine 5AM Coalition, which started working on February 25, 2022. Today, the Coalition unites 31 non-governmental organizations and four individual experts. They combined their efforts to systematically document war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine.
The event is organized with the support of the Prague Center for Civil Society.
