UN Special Rapporteur on torture in her report included data from ZMINA on Russian torture practices

On February 28, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Alice Jill Edwards, presented a report indicating that Russian torture practices are part of Russia’s high-level policy. This report also included data from Human Rights Centre ZMINA.

Illustrative image / Torture chamber in Izium, September 19, 2022. Photo: Suspilne

This report is based on information that Alice Jill Edwards received during her visit to Ukraine in September 2023. Thus, the document contains direct testimonies of the victims, as well as reports of several Ukrainian non-governmental organisations. The report of the Special Rapporteur also mentions three reports prepared by Human Rights Centre ZMINA, in particular in collaboration with MIHR and OMCT. These are reports on the “women’s cells” of Kherson torture chamber, as well as on Russian torture practices in Kharkiv, Kyiv and Kherson regions in January-March 2023.

In addition, the report also takes into account information from the report on the torture of civilians by Russians, which was submitted by ZMINA with MIHR and OMCT to the Universal Periodic Review.

The report refers to the practice of investigating and prosecuting crimes of torture committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The report also examines the treatment and conditions of detention of prisoners of war and persons accused of war crimes.

The Special Rapporteur indicated in the report that “[…] torture and other forms of ill-treatment or punishment were carried out in an organised and systematic manner within the framework of a policy …, which requires coordination, planning and organization, as well as direct authorization, deliberate policy or official tolerance on the part of the highest state authorities”.

On September 8, 2023, ZMINA met with the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and shared its data regarding Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.

“Behind these reports there is a lot of teamwork, field missions, painstaking work with evidence and analytics, and it is very nice to see the result – our work is noticed, trusted and referenced”, ZMINA human rights advisor Nataliia Okhotnikova comments.

This report will be presented on March 7 at the UN Human Rights Council.