War crimes on both sides in Ukraine, Amnesty says

KYIV, UKRAINE— Both warring sides in eastern Ukraine are perpetrating war crimes almost daily, including torturing prisoners and summarily killing them, Amnesty International said in a report Friday.

Amnesty said in a statement it has heard from former captives of both Ukrainian government and separatist forces who say they faced savage beatings, torture with electric shocks, kicking and stabbings.

Concern about the treatment of prisoners comes as Ukrainian authorities face scrutiny this week for publicly parading two men they say were Russian soldiers captured while fighting alongside separatists.

Hundreds of Ukrainian troops are believed to have been captured by rebel forces in the yearlong war that has claimed more than 6,100 lives. Both sides routinely accuse one another of mistreating captives. Under a February peace agreement, all war prisoners had been due for release in early March, but little progress has been achieved.

Amnesty says it interviewed 17 captives of the separatists and another16 held by government forces for its report.

“In the shadow of eastern Ukraine’s still-smouldering conflict, our onthe-ground research shows that accounts of detainee torture are as commonplace as they are shocking,” Amnesty International representative John Dalhuisen said.

The mistreatment included instances of prisoners being hung from the ceiling, deprived of sleep for days and threatened with death.

The group is urging UN agencies and experts to visit detention sites in Ukraine to meet those being held by both sides.

Amnesty said the worst abuse tends to occur during the first days of captivity and that groups operating largely outside the chain of command are the most violent.