GENEVA, January 25. /TASS/. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) believes that any mistreatment of prisoners of war is totally unacceptable, ICRC Spokeswoman Jennifer Sparks told TASS on Wednesday.
When asked whether the ICRC knows about videos showing mistreatment of Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine, she said, "While we can’t comment on specific cases, any mistreatment of prisoners of war is absolutely unacceptable, both from a humanitarian and a legal point of view."
The ICRC defines the hostilities in Ukraine as "an international armed conflict."
"Issues related to the conditions of internment of prisoners of war and their treatment are discussed regularly during our confidential and bilateral dialogue with the two parties to the conflict, and we cannot discuss them publicly," Sparks said.
"We take any allegation of ill-treatment of prisoners of war detained by both parties to the conflict very seriously, and we share our concerns with them and remind them of their legal obligations under the Geneva Conventions when the situation requires it," the ICRC spokesperson concluded.
On January 14, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said she had received footage from relatives of two captive Russian soldiers, which showed them being tortured and a ransom being demanded. She called on her Ukrainian counterpart, the ICRC, the United Nations Committee Against Torture, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to immediately demand that Ukraine comply with the 1949 Geneva Convention prohibiting torture, violence and other actions degrading to human dignity.
At a meeting with ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric in Moscow on January 19, Moskalkova called on the ICRC to step up efforts to visit captive Russian servicemen in Ukraine, especially the wounded ones.