Russia 'committed crimes against humanity' in Ukraine: UN probe

The crimes were perpetrated as part of a systematic, widespread attack against civilians, the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said in a new report to be formally presented next week.

«The commission has concluded that Russian authorities committed enforced disappearances and torture as crimes against humanity,» the report said.

«Both were perpetrated as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population and pursuant to a coordinated state policy,» it added.
The categorical nature of that statement was unusual for UN investigators.

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The report said large numbers of civilians were detained in areas that came under Russian control, and many of them were further transferred to detention facilities in occupied Ukraine or in Russia.

The Russian authorities «committed additional violations and crimes during these prolonged detentions. Many victims have been missing for months and years, and some died in captivity,» it said.

Those authorities have systematically failed to provide information on the detainees' whereabouts, it added.

The report said Russia had acted with the intent to remove disappeared people from «the protection of the law».

Prisoners of war have also been victims of torture and of enforced disappearances, in violation of international humanitarian law, the commission added.

The inquiry said Russia had «systematically used torture against certain categories of detainees to extract information, coerce, and intimidate».

The most brutal forms were used during interrogations, while Russian authorities have also «systematically used sexual violence as a form of torture against male detainees».

The commission said it had also been