Kyjiw offers Ukrainian collaborators against captured civilians
Kyjiw offers Ukrainian collaborators against captured civilians
Ukraine sent numerous citizens of its own to Russia last month by releasing them from prisons to secure the release of Ukrainian civilians who are illegally recorded in Russian prisons. Human rights activists describe this step as desperate and worrying.
The program for return
According to the Ukrainian government, as part of the 1,000 prison exchange 70 Ukrainian civilians who were convicted of alleged collaboration with Russia. Ukraine emphasizes that everyone had voluntarily exile, as part of a government program that enables convicted persons to go to Russia.
ambiguous reactions
However,human rights groups and international lawyers criticize the program because it contradicts the previous explanations of the Ukrainian government and potentially puts more people at risk of being kidnapped by the Russians. Onysiia Syniuk, a legal analyst of the Ukrainian human rights group Zmina, expressed: "I understand the feeling completely. We all want the persons captured in Russia as soon as possible, but the solution offered is definitely not the right one."
background to capture Ukrainian civilians
According to Kiev, at least 16,000 Ukrainian civilians are detained in Russia, although the actual number is probably higher. Around 37,000 Ukrainians, including civilians, children and soldiers, are officially missed. Many of them were arrested in occupied areas and held for months or even for years without charges and processes before they were deported to Russia.legal Situation and international reactions
The arrest of civilians by an occupying power is illegal according to international conflict law, unless there is a closely defined exception. In the absence of an established legal framework for the treatment and exchange of civilians, the situation is extremely complex.
In some cases,Russia claims that the Ukrainian civilians who hold it are prisoners of war and should be recognized as such. However, Kiev hesitates to pronounce this recognition, as this could endanger civilians in the occupied areas of being arrested arbitrarily by Russia.
The pressure on Russia is growing
The Ukrainian human rights commissioner DMYTRO Lubinets said that Kiev believes that Russia thinks Ukrainians hostage to use them as a means of pressure. The Ukrainian government has mobilized its allies to increase the pressure on Russia and tried to achieve the release of the detained civilians via third countries.
International organizations such as the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have repeatedly called for the unconditional release of all civilian detained, but Russia ignores these calls.
problems of the exchange
The program "I want to go to my own" aims to bring back some of the imprisoned civilians without having to recognize them as prisoners of war. However, human rights groups emphasize the Ukrainian government to continue to urge the unconditional release of civilians. "According to international humanitarian law, it is not possible to speak of an exchange of civilian detainees. All illegally recorded civilians have to be released unconditionally," said Yulia Gorbunova, an experienced researcher at Human Rights Watch.
criticism of the legal basis
In the announcement of the 1,000 exchanges for 1,000 exchange, the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj indicated that Russian saboteurs and collaborators were also included in the exchange. However, the results of the exchange do not seem to have met the expectations of the Ukrainian government. According to Petro Yatsenko from the coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war, Kiev did not know who was brought back.
The returnees also included civilians who were convicted of criminal offenses who had nothing to do with the war. Andriy Yusov, the deputy head of the headquarters, said that many of them were convicted by Ukrainian courts before the Russian invasion in February 2022. They would have illegally captured Russian authorities in deportation centers and only released as part of the prisoner exchange.
conclusion and outlook
Although the program offers a way for the return of Ukrainian citizens if necessary, the legal and ethical basis remains questionable. Human rights lawyers express concerns that Ukrainian legislation is not transparent enough and also includes people who have simply pursued their work in occupied areas. The case illustrates the complex moral and legal challenges in dealing with captured civilians in conflict situations.
This report was supported by CNNS Victoria Butenko and Svitlana Vlasova.
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