OSCE human rights office condemns death sentences against captured soldiers

Warsaw, 15 June 2022 – Following the death sentences handed down to three soldiers reported to be members of the Ukrainian armed forces, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) strongly condemns both their prosecution and sentencing, which have taken place in violation of international humanitarian law.

The court sentences were pronounced against two British nationals and one Moroccan national on 9 June 2022 in a non-government-controlled area of eastern Ukraine. Under international humanitarian law, combatants in the power of the enemy are entitled to prisoner of war status and cannot be prosecuted or punished purely for taking an active part in hostilities, even if this participation is defined as a criminal offence by the parties to an armed conflict.

The Office emphasises that all parties to an armed conflict are bound by international humanitarian law, including entities under the overall control of one of the parties to the conflict as in the present case. ODIHR calls on the Russian Federation to guarantee the rights of prisoners of war in line with the Third Geneva Convention, ensuring full respect for international humanitarian law.

All OSCE participating States have agreed that no form of public emergency,  including a state of war, a threat of war or internal political instability, can justify torture or other ill-treatment, or be used as an argument to disregard or undercut international humanitarian and international human rights law. There is also a growing consensus globally that the death penalty is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The vast majority of OSCE states have either completely abolished the death penalty, or maintain moratoria on executions as an important step towards complete abolition.