Solving the problem of protecting the rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the context of non-compliance by the Russian army with the Geneva Convention and the UN Charter requires a comprehensive approach, including the recognition of Russia as a terrorist country and its expulsion from all international organizations and institutions, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada Dmytro Lubinets has said.
Speaking about the latest case of the publication of an execution, probably of a Ukrainian prisoner of war, on the Internet, Lubinets told Radio Liberty: “As the Ombudsman of Ukraine, I receive dozens of such videos. We do not publish them, of course. But the reaction of the world should be instant, not just words, not just the ‘deep concern’ we’ve been hearing since 2014.”
“In particular, I demand that the UN Human Rights Committee separately consider the situation with the rights of prisoners of war of the Ukrainian army, who are actually not only in captivity, but they are under round-the-clock pressure and torture,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we do not have a system for protecting human rights, including the rights of military personnel. This must be recognized. And the UN, as a toothless organization, must first of all do something about this,” he said.
According to him, effective steps are needed: “the first is to raise the issue at different venues. The second is, perhaps, a separate UN resolution. And as a result of this resolution, the exclusion of the Russian Federation from the UN.”
“I called on the world ombudsmen to continue communicating with their national parliaments to recognize the Russian Federation as a terrorist country. Terrorists have no place next to democratic, civilized countries. It just needs to be done urgently. I mean, exclude the Russian Federation from the ranks of all international organizations and institutions.”