Over 16,000 civilians detained by Russia during the war in Ukraine are still held, UN estimates

The United Nations estimates that more than 16,000 civilians detained by Russia during its war in Ukraine are still being held UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations estimates that more than 16,000 civilians detained by Russia during its war in Ukraine are still being “deprived of their liberty,” many held incommunicado and on grounds that don’t comply with international law. “Widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment” of both Ukrainian civilian detainees and prisoners of war by Russia are continuing, including sexual violence, said Claudia Fuentes Julio, the U.N.

assistant secretary-general for human rights. She spoke at an informal meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by Latvia and the United Kingdom on Monday to spotlight the plight of civilians and soldiers taken during the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

The council, which counts Russia as a permanent member, heard the accounts as both Russia and Ukraine have escalated attacks in the four-year conflict. Since the invasion, Julio said, U.N. human rights staff have interviewed 910 Ukrainian prisoners of war and 403 civilian detainees following their release.

has not been able to visit detention facilities in Russia, and its estimated figure of those held does not break down how many are adults or children. More than 95% of the Ukrainian prisoners of war and 85% of the civilian detainees reported being tortured or ill-treated, often repeatedly, the U.N. They also reported sexual attacks and inhumane conditions, including food deprivation and inadequate medical services.

The Geneva-based human rights office “has documented the execution of 129 Ukrainian prisoners of war at the beginning of their captivity, and the deaths of 48 Ukrainian prisoners of war in custody, resulting from torture, denial of medical care, or other inhumane conditions of detention,” Julio said. Former detainees share their accounts with the United Nations The U.N. Security Council also heard emotionally wrenching accounts from Crimean Tatar human rights activist Leniie Umerova, who called herself a “political prisoner” of the Russians for almost two years, and Khuan Leyva Garsiya, a Ukrainian soldier who was among the hundreds that held out for months at the Azovstal steel plant in the besieged city of Mariupol before turning themselves over to the Russians in May 2022.

Garsiya, who was born in Mariupol to a Ukrainian mother and Cuban father, spent 1,183 days as … assistant secretary-general for human rights.She spoke at an informal meeting of the U.N.