Kiev: Amnesty International has claimed that it has evidence proving torture in captivity and execution-style killings of four Ukrainian troops at the hands of pro-Russian armed groups.
Branding the atrocious acts perpetrated by the pro-Russian group as “war crimes”, rights group Amnesty International has called for a thorough investigation.
“The new evidence of these summary killings confirms what we have suspected for a long time. The question now is: what are the separatist leaders going to do about it?” said Denis Krivosheev, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director at Amnesty International.
#Ukraine: New evidence of summary killings of captured soldiers must spark urgent investigations #humanrights http://t.co/XCb3uCPfEg
— AmnestyInternational (@AmnestyOnline) April 9, 2015
“The torture, ill-treatment and killing of captured, surrendered or wounded soldiers are war crimes. These claims must be promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigated, and the perpetrators prosecuted in fair trials by recognized authorities,” added Krivosheev.
Amnesty mentions the video of one Ukrainian soldier Ihor Branovytsky, in which he is seen being interrogated in captivity. Also seen are signs that say that he was hit on face. Amnesty says that he remained in captivity till he was killed.
Amnesty also claims having “seen videos documenting the captivity, and pictures of the dead bodies, of at least three other members of the Ukrainian armed forces, reportedly being held in a morgue in Donetsk”.
Given the mark of bullet wounds to their heads and upper parts of their bodies, it is apparent that they were killed execution-style.
The revelation by the Amnesty comes after a local report in Ukrainian media featured a phone interview with a Russian national named Arseniy Pavlov, alias “Motorola”, who claimed to have shot dead 15 Ukrainian troops.
Motorola leads a pro-Russian armed group known as “Sparta Battalion” which operates in eastern Ukraine.
Amnesty has been reiterating calls for impartial and thorough probe into killings and rights abuses committed by both sides in the fighting between Ukrainian soldiers and pro-Russian separatists.
Over 6,000 have been killed since last year when the conflict began.
