By Torturing POWs, Russia Defies Geneva Convention

Russia continues to be a signatory to the Geneva Conventions and its rules over the treatment of prisoners of war. However, how is Russia fulfilling its commitment to the Geneva Convention protocols?

Russia is failing miserably in keeping its Geneva Convention commitments.

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Russian prison wardens, from the early weeks of their invasion, told their guards that normal rules would not apply to Ukrainian military prisoners. One warden in St. Petersburg told his men, “Be cruel. Don’t pity them.” They were told that there would be no restrictions against violence and that security cameras would be removed.

As a consequence of these commands, Ukrainian prisoners of war are being ritualistically brutalized and tortured in Russian prisons. The types of torture include electric shocks on the genitals, ritual beatings, starvation and withheld medical treatment until amputations are required.

The same WSJ article recounts the tale of a former Ukrainian POW stripped naked and shocked repeatedly. Afterward, he was told to yell “Glory to Russia! Glory to the Special Forces!” and forced to sing the Russian and Soviet national anthems. The guards beat him When he said he didn’t know the songs.

The guards complained too often about their electric shockers running out of battery life and broken batons from constantly using them on Ukrainian prisoners. The evidence collected has come from former Ukrainian POWs as well as Russian guards who could no longer handle the violence and fled their homeland.

This type of torture has not been relegated only to men. Approximately 5,000 Ukrainian women are serving in combat roles on the frontlines and they too have become victims of routine torture as POWs.

According to a recent NY Post article,  Ukrainian women POWs are enduring particular indignities and crimes such as marching in the snow naked, regular beatings, and serial rapes. They are forced to sing the Russian national anthem naked under cold water. The prisoners are also malnourished and come home emaciated.

The same NY Post article found that nine out of ten Ukrainian POWs return home with physical and psychological scars from the torture.

What Russia has been doing amounts to war crimes which need to be prosecuted as part of any peace deal. Suppose Russia is not held to account for its treatment of prisoners of war after this war is over. In that case, other countries will believe as though they have free passes to starve, torture, rape and brutalize their enemy without consequence.

This will return our world order from upholding the rule of law and human dignity to “might makes right”. When the world last adopted a “might makes right policy”, over 50 million people died in a world war.

As the U.S. government works to bring about a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia, it should remember the many war crimes Ukrainians have endured from this war including the torture of POWs. This collective trauma will make trusting the peace process, concessions, and a deal a bitter pill to swallow.

The United States can help Ukraine move forward through economic and security guarantees and demanding Russian accountability for their war crimes. If Ukraine knows its American and European allies have their back in the future, Ukrainians will be more willing to believe in a durable peace.