Lawyers point to need to apply Geneva Conventions to Ukrainian combatants

Soldiers of the “Azov” regiment, who surrendered to the Russian troops, have the status of prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention, and their prosecution for war crimes against Russian militaries or civilians is not ruled out. This opinion has been voiced by lawyers interviewed by the “Caucasian Knot”.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that some of the “Azov” regiment soldiers and marines of the Ukrainian armed forces who surrendered to the Russian troops in Mariupol were taken to Taganrog, and some were brought to the SIZO (pre-trial prison) No. 1 of Rostov-on-Don.

The militaries of the “Azov” regiment have the status of prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention (III) relative to the treatment of prisoners of war (POWs), lawyer Natalia Secretaryova says.

“Accordingly, they are covered by all the guarantees of the Geneva Convention (III). For example, they cannot be brought to trial for the very fact of participating in hostilities,” Natalia Secretaryova explained. Meanwhile, according to her, prisoners of war can be brought to trial for crimes that they might have committed during an armed conflict, for example, for war crimes or genocide.

The status of prisoners of war, which, by definition, all the militaries of Ukraine have, regardless of belonging to the army or the National Guard, does not exclude their further criminal prosecution for war crimes, emphasizes Aleksandr Latynin, a lawyer of the “Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers”.

“They have the status of militaries. And then, after verification, if their involvement in certain crimes either against military personnel of the Russian Armed Forces or civilians is revealed, criminal cases may be instated against them,” the lawyer noted.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 24, 2022 at 01:37 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.