Human Rights Watch warns Ukraine against posting videos of Russian prisoners of war

As Ukraine publishes several images and videos of Russian soldiers who were captured by Ukrainian forces, New York-based Human Rights Watch, on Thursday, has appealed to Kyiv to react sensitively with the prisoners of wars (POWs). It strictly warned the Ukrainian government not to publish images or videos of soldiers in order to respect the Geneva Conventions. According to Geneva Convention, prisoners of wars have the right to honour and respect. As per Human Right Watch, publishing videos or photos exposes them to public curiosity, in particular those that show them being humiliated or intimidated.

It said that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the main security arm of the Ukrainian government, has a Telegram account with about 8,68,000 subscribers where it has posted videos of captured Russian soldiers who appear under duress or are revealing their names, identification numbers, and other personal information, including their parents’ names and home addresses. It shares these videos on its Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram pages with roughly 9,78,000 combined followers and subscribers. "The obligation to protect POWs from being objects of public curiosity, as well as protecting them from intimidation or humiliation, is part of the broader requirement to ensure their humane treatment and protect their families from harm," said Aisling Reidy, Senior Legal Advisor at Human Rights Watch, in a statement released on Thursday. "The Ukrainian authorities should stop posting these videos online," added Reidy.  

Human Rights Watch group asks social media platforms to clarify the content uploaded on their platforms

Social media platforms should also clarify whether and how videos of POWs that are incompatible with the Geneva Conventions fall under their existing policies and, if necessary, develop new policies to identify and suppress the spread of such content, Human Rights Watch said. 

Russia initiated a full-fledged war against Ukraine nearly two days after Putin signed a decree recognizing the independence of breakaway regions Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin's action came despite the West's repetitive warning and speculations about his ill-intention to invade Ukraine. Until then, Zelenskyy had called his Russian counterpart to meet him, seeking a resolution to avert the war. Irrespective of pressure and appeals, the Russian troops started a military operation against Ukraine on February 24 this year. Since then, thousands of civilians and defence personnel from both sides have been killed in the attack.  

Image: AP