The short version
- Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide demands that Russia release thousands of civilian Ukrainians imprisoned during the occupation of Ukraine.
- The OSCE received a report from the Norwegian jurist Cecilie Hellestveit and two other experts, which documents the systematic torture of civilians in the areas that Russia has occupied in Ukraine.
- Russia’s representative to the OSCE criticized the experts and accused Western countries of abusing the system of expert investigations.
- Norway will follow up the report towards Russia, according to the foreign minister.
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On Thursday afternoon, the Organization for Security in Europe (OSCE) received a report from the Norwegian jurist Cecilie Hellestveit and two other experts on the international law of war.
The report documents how Russia uses torture and humiliation systematically against civilians in the occupied areas of Ukraine.
– The report is important documentation. It tells of a regime of terror and shows why it is so important to support Ukraine’s fight for freedom, writes the foreign minister in an email to VG.
– This is one of the darkest things I have worked on, says Cecilie Hellestveit to VG.
She is at the organisation’s headquarters in Vienna on Thursday and has presented the report to the OSCE Council – where both Russia and Ukraine are members.
“Nodding dolls”
Russia’s representative to the OSCE has, in a post in Vienna on Thursday afternoon, called the three experts “paid dummies”, and accused Western countries of abusing the arrangement that allows for expert investigations like this one.
In her presentation on behalf of Norway and Canada, Ambassador Anne-Kirsti Karlsen said that Russia’s representative should think carefully about what has emerged in the report.
– I hope that you will consider the deep consequences of the findings in the report, not only as an envoy, but also as a witness to the judgment of history, said Karlsen.
Trembling
Espen Barth Eide says that the report gives a shocking insight into how civilians live in fear during Russian occupation.
– Many thousands of Ukrainian civilians are being held captive in their own country by Russian occupation forces. They are exposed to threats, torture, sexual violence and, in the worst case, murder. Family members of prisoners are also exposed to reprisals. Few people get an explanation as to why they are imprisoned, says Espen Barth Eide.
– The report documents that the Russian authorities grossly violate the rights of civilians, break their international obligations – and that such extensive and systematic arbitrary deprivation of liberty can amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, he continues.
Demand releases
According to Espen Barth Eide, Norway will follow up on the report towards Russia.
– Our foremost appeal goes to the Russian authorities to stop the illegal war against Ukraine and immediately release civilian prisoners, he states,
Holding back OSCE staff
Three observers from the OSCE are among the several thousand that Russia has arrested.
Vadym Golda, Maxim Petrov and Dmytro Shabanov were imprisoned in April 2022 in Donetsk and Luhansk, regions which Russia later annexed and declared as Russian territory.
Petrov and Shabanov are later sentenced to 13 years in prison, while Golda’s further fate is unclear.
– It is completely unacceptable that employees of international organizations are imprisoned for their work. Norway demands that Russia also release the three OSCE employees immediately, says the Norwegian foreign minister.
Norway and Canada jointly lead a working group in President Volodymyr Zelenskyj’s work regarding civilian prisoners, prisoners of war and deported children.
