Ukrainian children, the elderly and people with disabilities are forced to resort to filtering processes and forcibly transferred to Russian-controlled Ukrainian cities or deported to Russia.
– Most disturbing is how systematic and extensive this is, says Patricia Kaatee, political advisor to Amnesty International Norway.
For the first time, the World Human Rights Organization has documented the extent of forced displacement and deportation of civilians fleeing bombed cities and homes in Ukraine.
Amnesty International calls it “a war crime and most likely also a crime against humanity” in a new report. Among other things, it has these results:
- Russian forces torture and deport civilians from Ukraine.
- The children are separated from their families after being forced to move to Russia or the territories occupied by Russia.
- The elderly, people with disabilities and children have a hard time leaving Russia after being deported there.
– Shocking discovery
A total of 88 people were interviewed by Amnesty. Most are civilians from Mariupol, as well as civilians from the Kharkiv, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions, all occupied by Russian forces.
The report also describes an incident involving the forced relocation of 92 residents from a state institution for the elderly and people with disabilities in Mariupol, in the Russian-controlled Donetsk area.
Councilor Patricia Kaatee calls many of the findings shocking.
What is obviously shocking is the way vulnerable children and the elderly are forcibly relocated or deported, he says.
– Many of the children have no parents or lost contact with them during the war. And they cannot decide for themselves where they want to flee.
Civilians told Amnesty that they had been forced to go through screening processes – also known as filtering – which led to arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment.
– At the border with Russia or in areas occupied by Russia, all civilians are interrogated and searched and fingerprints are taken, says Kaatee.
– The police and the army check images and text messages on mobile phones, with the aim of obtaining as much information as possible about what is happening in Ukraine.
Being subjected to torture
Information about the Ukrainian army and their positions and plans is particularly interesting. According to the Amnesty report, torture and other ill-treatment, including electric shocks and threats of execution, are used to obtain information. Others were denied food and water.
– Of those we interviewed, four people were subjected to torture and three other civilians reported torture by close relatives, says Kaatee.
The report describes a case involving a Mariupol woman who was separated from her 11-year-old son. Both had been hiding in the Azovstal steelworks.
When the mother and son got out, they were separated during the filtering process. The woman was questioned and the child has not seen her mother since. Instead, the 11-year-old was transferred to a children’s hospital in an area occupied by Russia. Separating refugee families is a violation of international humanitarian law.
– We also document how elderly people with disabilities who cannot flee with their families are deported by ambulance to Russia, says Kaatee.
– Then children and grandchildren sit in Ukraine and don’t know how to bring their father or mother home.
Secretary General John Peder Egenæs of Amnesty International Norway says all those who have been forcibly transferred and who are still illegally detained must be released. Those who caused the crimes must be held accountable.
– Children in Russian custody must be reunited with their families and arrangements must be made for their return to Ukrainian-controlled areas, says Egenæs.
