UN SECURITY COUNCIL: ARRIA FORMULA MEETING – VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW AGAINST UKRAINIAN PRISONERS OF WAR AND CIVILIAN DETAINEES
STATEMENT BY H.E. AMBASSADOR JAMES LARSEN, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF AUSTRALIA
13 January 2025
Thank you Chair,
And I thank the United Kingdom for bringing this important matter to the Security Council.
We're deeply moved and appalled by the testimonies we have received today from our briefers.
Australia reiterates our profound concern at reports that the Russian Federation is violating of the most fundamental principles of international humanitarian law in relation to the treatment of Ukrainian civilian detainees and prisoners of war.
We are especially concerned by the scale of reported summary executions.
Where confirmed, these would be an egregious example of the breach by the Russian Federation of its most basic obligations.
We are also appalled by the reported use of sexual violence as a form of torture and more broadly, condemn the inhumane, degrading, and unsanitary conditions so many detainees endure.
We call on the Russian Federation to treat all prisoners of war with dignity and in accordance with international humanitarian law.
We reiterate calls for the ICRC and other independent international monitors to have full access to all those areas of Ukraine controlled by Russia and especially all places of detention.
The Russian Federation must end this illegal and immoral war.
Thank you.