Eastern Ukraine: Evidence of Crimes Against Prisoners Presented to ICC

Global Diligence partner, Alexandre Prezanti, was retained by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG), to draft an Article 15 Communication to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on crimes committed against detainees trapped in prisons seized and controlled by anti-government forces in Eastern Ukraine.

Following the outbreak of hostilities in Eastern Ukraine in 2014, 36 Ukrainian detention facilities holding 16,200 prisoners fell under the control of anti-government forces. The government of Ukraine took no adequate steps to evacuate the prisoners from the sites of active hostilities. The vast majority of prisoners were abandoned to their fate and experienced arbitrary detention and ill-treatment, including systematic violence, intimidation, and debasement. Those perceived to be pro-government have been subjected to the harshest forms of abuse. Prisoners have also suffered from the effects of ongoing hostilities, including chronic hunger, regular power cuts, lack of water and crumbling prison buildings. Shelling throughout the active phase of hostilities has led to severe trauma, injury and deaths. There is also evidence that anti-government forces were using prison buildings and walls to launch artillery and mortar attacks on government positions, attracting retaliatory strikes that led to injury and death amongst prisoners.   

The Communication is based on 266 interviews conducted with former and current prisoners, information obtained from the Government of Ukraine and open-source materials. The evidence reveals a reasonable basis to believe that the war crimes of unlawful confinement, denial of fair and regular trial, cruel or inhuman treatment and outrages on personal dignity took place in the prisons. Furthermore, there is a reasonable basis to believe that the conduct amounts to crimes against humanity of illegal imprisonment, and other inhumane acts. The Communication requests the ICC Prosecutor to include these facts into her preliminary examination into the Situation in Ukraine, with a view to prosecuting those responsible. 

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