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According to International Humanitarian Law, during an armed conflict, parties to the conflict may take enemy soldiers prisoner. The critical purpose of captivity is to prevent further participation of soldiers in hostilities. At the same time, prisoners of war should be held in decent conditions separately from civilians, and the parties holding them are obliged to comply with the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. However, Russia systematically disregards IHL, and international organizations that are supposed to monitor the conditions of detention of prisoners, such as the ICRC, do not influence it.
21 February 2024
On the eve of the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Media Initiative for Human Rights held its second special event in the European Parliament dedicated to the issue of releasing civilian hostages. The event was initiated and moderated by Petras Auštrevičius, MEP of the Renew Europe group, a Lithuanian politician working hard to support Ukraine.
21 February 2024
Since February 24, 2022, and to this day, the Russian military, representatives of the Federal Security Service of Russia, and other Russian Federation controlled formations in the occupied territories of Ukraine have illegally detained and continue to detain civilians without cause. These individuals are subjected to torture and held in inadequate conditions. They are not allowed to communicate with their families.
20 February 2024
For ten years, Ukraine has been in a whirlwind of upheavals, starting with the events of the […]
20 February 2024
At the initiative of the British and Ukrainian embassies in the Netherlands and with the support of the Media Initiative for Human Rights, the Ukraine Witness Testimony Event was held in The Hague, during which witnesses to Russia's war crimes in Ukraine told their stories of abduction and illegal detention.
14 February 2024
The Russians occupied Melitopol in the first days of the full-scale invasion. They immediately seized the administrative buildings and started dispersing pro-Ukrainian protests with weapons, abducting local residents and holding them hostage. Kostiantyn Zinovkin, who stayed in Melitopol to care for his mother and grandmother, was not spared either.
12 February 2024