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Ukraine: Executions, Torture During Russian Occupation

Apparent War Crimes in Kyiv, Chernihiv Regions

(Kyiv) – Russian forces controlling much of the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions in northeastern Ukraine from late February through March 2022 subjected civilians to summary executions, torture, and other grave abuses that are apparent war crimes, Human…
Volodymyr Ivashchenko shows the basement where he sheltered in the initial days of the war, together with his wife, mother-in-law, daughter, and 3-year-old grandson, in Yahidne, April 17, 2022.
News

Human Rights Council Special Session on Ukraine

Human Rights Watch Oral Statement

34th Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council 12 May 2022 Human Rights Watch has documented grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by Russian military forces in occupied areas of Ukraine, including summary…
News

Central African Republic: Abuses by Russia-Linked Forces

Killings, Torture of Civilians

(Nairobi) – Forces in the Central African Republic, whom witnesses identified as Russian, appear to have summarily executed, tortured, and beaten civilians since 2019, Human Rights Watch said today. National authorities, the country’s Special Criminal…
A UN peacekeeper alongside a member of Russian security forces and a member of Central African President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s presidential guard in Bangui, December 27, 2020.
News

Ukraine: Russian Forces Fired On Civilian Vehicles

Civilians Killed Trying to Flee, Approaching Checkpoints

(Kyiv) – Russian forces have fired on civilian vehicles in three separate incidents in Ukraine’s Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, killing six civilians and wounding three, Human Rights Watch said today. In one case, they pulled a man from a van and…
Maksym Maksymenko’s shot-up car in Hostomel, Ukraine. Russian forces opened fire on the vehicle on February 28, 2022 while Maksym was trying to evacuate with his mother, mother-in-law, wife, and their toddler son. Maksym and his wife were wounded, his mother died.
News

Ukraine: Russian Forces’ Trail of Death in Bucha

Preserving Evidence Critical for War Crimes Prosecutions

Russian forces committed a litany of apparent war crimes during their occupation of Bucha, a town about 30 kilometers northwest of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, from March 4 to 31, 2022, Human Rights Watch said in a detailed report released today. Human…
Women watch and embrace each other as bodies are exhumed from a mass grave by the authorities
News

Ukraine: Apparent POW Abuse Would Be War Crime

Video Appears to Show Fighters Shooting Russian POWs

(New York) – Ukraine should ensure an effective investigation into alleged abuse by Ukrainian fighters of Russian prisoners of war (POWs), Human Rights Watch said today. If confirmed, the beating and shooting of captured combatants in their legs would…
News

Ukraine: Russia Uses Banned Antipersonnel Landmines

Landmines Threaten Civilian Lives, Prolong Recovery

(Berlin, March 29, 2022) – Russian forces fighting in Ukraine have used banned antipersonnel mines in the eastern Kharkiv region, Human Rights Watch said today.  The antipersonnel mines were located by Ukrainian explosive ordnance disposal…
POM-3 antipersonnel mines that failed to deploy and remnants of its delivery canister found by deminers in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine on or around March 28.
News

Ukraine: Ensure Safe Passage, Aid for Mariupol Civilians

Residents Describe Harsh Conditions During Russian Attack

Thirty-two civilians who managed to escape southeastern Ukraine’s besieged city of Mariupol last week told Human Rights Watch how they struggled to survive in below-freezing temperatures as Russian forces relentlessly attacked the city. They described…
A woman and her family try to get a signal over medium wave radio
News

Ukraine: Cluster Munitions Repeatedly Used on Mykolaiv

Civilians Killed, Injured in Multiple Attacks That May Amount to War Crimes

(Berlin) – Russian forces repeatedly fired cluster munition rockets into the densely populated city of Mykolaiv, in southern Ukraine, during separate attacks on March 7, 11, and 13, 2022, Human Rights Watch said today. An attack on March 13…
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Ukraine: Respect the Rights of Prisoners of War

Published Footage of Captured Soldiers Violates Geneva Conventions

(Berlin) – Ukrainian authorities should stop posting on social media and messaging apps videos of captured Russian soldiers that expose them to public curiosity, in particular those that show them being humiliated or intimidated, Human Rights Watch said…
News

Ukraine: Russian Air-Dropped Bombs Hit Residential Area

Dozens Killed and Wounded in Apparent War Crime in Chernihiv

Russian aircraft dropped multiple unguided bombs simultaneously on March 3, 2022, that hit an intersection in a residential neighborhood of Chernihiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack, at about 12:15 p.m.…
A residential building in Chernihiv, Ukraine damaged by Russian aerial attack on March 3, 2022.
News

EU: Mediterranean Deaths Warrant Crisis Response

(Milan) - The European Union (EU) should act immediately to prevent further deaths at sea, Human Rights Watch said. As many as 700 migrants and asylum seekers are feared dead in a single shipwreck in the Mediterranean north of Libya on April 19, 2015,…
News

Syria: Visit Reveals Torture Chambers

Opposition Should Secure Security Force Facilities, Safeguard Potential Evidence

(New York) – Government security branches in Raqqa city hold documents and potential physical evidence indicating that detainees were arbitrarily detained and tortured there while the city was under government control. Human Rights Watch researchers…
News

Syria: Torture Centers Revealed

For 27 Detention Sites: Locations, Commanders’ Names, Torture Methods

(New York) – Former detainees and defectors have identified the locations, agencies responsible, torture methods used, and, in many cases, the commanders in charge of 27 detention facilities run by Syrian intelligence agencies, Human Rights Watch said in…
News

Tracking down torture in Syria

The new Human Rights Watch report "Torture Archipelago" documents in excruciating detail the use of torture in government detention facilities in Syria, including how, where, when and under whose command this torture was carried out. Documenting human…
News

Syria: ‘Shoot to Kill’ Commanders Named

Security Council Should Refer Syria to ICC for Crimes Against Humanity

(London) – Former Syrian soldiers identified by name 74 commanders and officials responsible for attacks on unarmed protesters, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The report names commanders and officials from the Syrian military and…

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