Red Cross visits prisoners of war in Ukraine
2022.12.08 05:33
Red Cross visits prisoners of war in Ukraine
Budrigannews.com – In what it called “important progress” on Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) gained access to Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war last week and plans to make additional visits.
The Geneva-based body has reached hundreds of prisoners on both sides since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. However, it stated that access has been “sporadic” up to this point.
The statement cited ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric as saying, “My expectation is that these visits lead to more regular access to all prisoners of war.”
“The ICRC must be granted unimpeded access to see all prisoners of war repeatedly and in private, wherever they are held,” the ICRC statement added. “While the recent visits are important progress,” the statement added.
The Third Geneva Convention, to which both Russia and Ukraine are parties, protects the ICRC’s impartial humanitarian right to regularly visit prisoners of war.
However, access has not always been granted in the Ukraine conflict, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has previously accused the ICRC of not doing anything.
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Last month, the UN office for human rights reported that its monitors were denied access to Russian-held Ukrainian war prisoners.
According to the ICRC, it paid two-day visits to Ukrainian POWs last week and this week. Last week, it also paid a visit to Russian POWs, and by the end of the month, it plans to make additional such visits. Neither the precise number of inmates nor the precise locations of the detention facilities were provided by the ICRC.
The family members of POWs are currently receiving updates from the Red Cross. It stated that some individuals returned brief notes of love and personal news, while others requested cigarettes, sweets, and socks. Anguished relatives receive a lifeline in each of these messages.
