The Human Rights Council meeting room in Geneva.Photo: United Nations/W.Martin
On Wednesday, UN human rights expert Mariana Katsarova released a report in which she accused the Russian authorities of “systematically” using torture against political opponents and Ukrainian prisoners of war. According to her investigations, torture and other forms of ill-treatment are used by the Russian state as tools to crush opposition sentiment.
Katsarova noted that after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, torture became “a concerted strategy to suppress civil society”, targeting anti-war activists, journalists and any critics of Russian policy.
The report states that there are at least 1,300 political prisoners in Russia today, although the actual number may be as high as 1,700. Among them are about 30 journalists. There are also reports of thousands of Ukrainians who have been forcibly transferred to Russian-controlled territories, where they are also subjected to torture, including rape and other forms of sexual violence.
Russian detention centres, according to Katsarova, use a wide range of cruel methods, such as drowning, hanging from the ceiling and mock executions. One method, known as “making a phone call to Putin”, involves applying electric shocks to sensitive parts of the body.
Russia did not grant Katsarova access to the investigation, but she gathered information through human rights organisations and other sources.
