Russia violates the provisions of the Geneva Convention – human rights defenders

Ukraine is now in the field of changing international human rights. The Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) executive director Oleksandra Romantsova stated at the Fourth International Forum of European Ukraine in Berlin.

The human rights activist emphasized that it is possible to release and return Ukrainians, both combatants, and civilians, detained by the Russian Federation only if civil society unites.

“We need to do a lot to bring them back. The most important thing is that all these people can be released,” said Romantsova.

It is important to note that the exchange of civilians and prisoners of war is different. According to Oleksandra, if a military person is captured, the possibility of exchange is sometimes much faster than that of a civilian prisoner. Therefore, you need to be prepared that this path will be long.

This was confirmed by the case that human rights defenders brought to the forum – the freed captive Victoria Andrusha.

“At the beginning of May, I was informed that the consideration of my “case” (ed. the criminal case for which Viktoria was tried in the Russian Federation – espionage) proved my innocence and I will soon be released… But I was released in September, as you know,” Victoria shared.

The girl added that the conditions in which Ukrainian civilians and soldiers are living are bad. After all, the authorities of the Russian Federation do not divide kidnapped Ukrainians into civilians and prisoners of war – they keep them all together. The main claim the Russians put forward to the prisoner is that you are from Ukraine!

Oleksandra Romantsova confirmed the words of the former prisoner and emphasized that the conditions of stay of our prisoners are terrible because Russia violates the provisions of the Geneva Convention.

“This is the mandate of the Red Cross, which, unfortunately, does not fulfill this mandate successfully. So if it doesn’t work, we have to create something new that will perform this function,” the human rights activist summarized.

We will remind you that this week the Center for Civil Liberties team visited the Fourth International Forum of European Ukraine. A platform aimed at establishing peace in Ukraine, which will be based on the norms of international law and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.