Press Release: UN News
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday condemned the death sentence handed down to three foreign fighters in Ukraine by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. “Such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime,” said OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.
The three men - Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan Saaudun Brahim – were captured while fighting for Ukraine, reportedly defending the southern port city of Mariupol.
Bitter fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces since the Russian invasion on 24 February flattened the city, where UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet has previously condemned attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, that have likely caused thousands of deaths.
“OHCHR is concerned about the so-called Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic sentencing three servicemen to death,” said Ms. Shamdasani. “According to the chief command of Ukraine, all the men were part of the Ukrainian armed forces and if that is the case, they should not be considered as mercenaries.”
Answering a question at the regular briefing in New York on Thursday about the death sentences handed down, the UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, said the the Organization always has "and we always will", opposed the death penalty under any circumstances. "And we would call on the combatants who have been detained, to be afforded international protection, and to be treated according to the Geneva Conventions", he added.
Longstanding concerns
The UN rights office spokesperson also highlighted longstanding concerns about fair trial violations in Ukraine’s breakaway eastern regions bordering Russia. “Since 2015, we have observed that the so-called judiciary within these self-contained republics has not complied with essential fair trial guarantees, such as public hearings, independence, impartiality of the courts and the right not to be compelled to testify.”
Speaking in Geneva, Ms. Shamdasani added that “such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime. In the case of the use of the death penalty, fair trial guarantees are of course all the more important.”
Pro-Russian rebels have sentenced to death two British fighters and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine.
The death sentences on Thursday came from separatist authorities in the Donetsk region, which is part of the Donbass, as Moscow concentrates its firepower on the strategic industrial hub of Sievierodonetsk.
Rebels ordered the death penalty for Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Saaudun Brahim after they were accused of acting as mercenaries for Kiev, Russian media reported.
Britain said it was “deeply concerned” by the sentences. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Boris Johnson stressed that “Under the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war are entitled to combatant immunity.”
The two Britons surrendered in April in Mariupol, the southern port city that was captured by Russian troops after a weeks-long siege. They later appeared on Russian TV calling on Johnson to negotiate their release.
Brahim surrendered in March in the eastern town of Volnovakha.
During a trial that lasted three days, the men pleaded guilty to committing “actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the Donetsk People’s Republic”, Russian news agency Interfax said.
‘Fate of Donbass’
Western countries have provided weapons and aid for Ukraine since the February 24 attack, while a number of people from abroad have come to fight against Russian forces.
The fiercest fighting is now focused on Sievierodonetsk in the Luhansk region, where Ukrainian officials say their outgunned forces are still holding out amid street battles despite the city being mostly under Russian control.
The regional governor of Luhansk, also part of the Donbass, said Western artillery would quickly help secure a Ukrainian victory for the bombarded city.
“As soon as we have long-range artillery to be able to conduct duels with Russian artillery, our special forces can clean up the city in two to three days,” governor Sergiy Gaiday said.
In his evening address to the Ukrainian people on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said the battle for Sievierodonetsk was “probably one of the most difficult throughout this war.
“In many ways, the fate of our Donbass is being decided there.”
The city of Lysychansk, which is separated from Sievierodonetsk by a river, is still in Ukrainian hands but under fierce Russian bombardment.
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