KYIV. UkraineGate . 1st of September. 2022 | Political News.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has not been able to gain access to the place of death of Ukrainian defenders in the detention center in the temporarily occupied Olenivka in Donetsk region for a month, but it is trying to get there. ICRC General Director Robert Mardini stated this at a press conference in Kyiv .
Quote
“It has already been a month since the attack on Olenivskyi Detention Center. Despite active confidential negotiations, we have not been granted access to the POWs affected by the attack. We also do not have the security guarantees necessary to carry out this visit. We are working hard to change that. “, said Mardini.
Details
He added that he understands that society has questions about the ICRC’s role in Ukraine, and considers it necessary to explain what the agency “can and cannot do as an organization.” In particular, the director general of the ICRC noted that the organization cannot force anyone to comply with the provisions of the Third Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War in this or any other armed conflict.
“This is the responsibility of the parties, especially in the context of an international armed conflict. Whether they like it or not, the warring parties have an obligation to implement the norms they have agreed to. The ICRC, as a humanitarian organization, is not in a position to compel governments or armed forces to act . We do not have weapons. We are not politicians,” said the Director General of the ICRC.
Addition
As noted by the Ministry of Defense of the aggressor country, Russia agreed to invite experts from the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to the colony at the place of death of Ukrainian prisoners of war. At the same time, it was reported that the occupiers did not allow ICRC representatives to visit the prisoners of war in Olenivka.
Subsequently, the spokesman of the ICRC Oleksandr Vlasenko in a comment to Suspilnyi noted that ICRC employees were twice in Olenivka after the prisoners of war were transferred there: “literally 2-3 days after their transportation.” However, they did not have the opportunity to communicate with them face to face.
At the same time, the ICRC is trying to gain access to the prisoners who are still being held there, as well as to the bodies of their fallen comrades.
Context
According to the GUR of the Ministry of Defense, on July 28, a powerful explosion occurred on the territory of the former correctional colony No. 120 in the city of Olenivka in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region, which is currently used as a place of detention of Ukrainian prisoners of war. As a result of the explosion, the premises where the Ukrainian prisoners were kept was destroyed.
The explosions took place on the territory of the industrial zone in a newly built building, which was supposed to be specially equipped to hold prisoners taken out of “Azovstal”. The equipment of the building was completed 2 days before, after which some of the detained Ukrainian defenders were transferred to it.
The SBU intercepted telephone conversations in which the occupiers confirm that the Russian troops are to blame for this tragedy.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the President’s Office, cited three proofs that the Russian occupiers carried out a terrorist attack in the Olenivka colony.
Source: Ukrgate
