Ukraine demands from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to prevent the so-called "tribunal" and force Russia to provide information about the Ukrainian defenders of Azovstal. This is stated in the message of the Ministry of Justice, Ukrainian News Agency reports.
On August 23, Ukraine submitted a number of new urgent demands to the ECHR to ensure the right to life and the prohibition of torture, guaranteed by Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, in relation to the Ukrainian defenders of Azovstal who were captured by the Russian occupiers.
The specified petition was submitted within the framework of the interstate case "Ukraine v. Russia (X)" under application No. 11055/22 regarding the violation of human rights during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"Ukraine also demands that urgent measures be taken to prevent the use of Ukrainian defenders in any kind of so-called "tribunals" and other show courts staged by the Russian invaders. Separately, Ukraine appealed to the ECHR with a demand to compel Russia to provide information on the detention and medical care they require Ukrainian heroes," the statement reads.
Ukraine emphasizes that the Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol are combatants, legal participants in hostilities and in case of capture, they receive the status of prisoners of war, which requires proper treatment based on the third Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War from 1949.
"Conducting any trials of prisoners of war for the purposes of propaganda is prohibited and equated to war crimes. We appeal to the world with the demand to use all available mechanisms to protect our prisoners of war and bring the Russian Federation and specific individuals to justice for their crimes," the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, emphasized.
The statement also states that Ukraine records Russia's crimes and uses available international legal opportunities to ensure the rights of Ukrainian defenders held captive by the Russian occupiers, and expects the ECHR to carefully consider and grant the request.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on August 21, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that any negotiations with the Russian Federation would be impossible if the occupiers held a show trial over the captured defenders of Azovstal in Mariupol (Donetsk region).
The "head" of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk People's Republic" Denys Pushylin confirmed the intention to hold a "tribunal" over Ukrainian prisoners of war in Mariupol despite Zelenskyy's statement.
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