ICRC asks for guarantees to visit prisoners of war in Ukraine

MADRID, 16 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has sent a team of eleven people to Donetsk to visit prisoners of war, but has warned that in order to carry out this mission, access conditions must be respected.

"Its mission is to check the conditions of internment and treatment, deliver essential supplies and ensure that prisoners of war can be in contact with their families," the ICRC said in a statement.

The international organization has expressly mentioned the prisoners of war held in the Elenovka prison, where more than 50 prisoners died in an attack that Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of.

The ICRC warns of the "intense hostilities" recorded this Sunday in the area that highlight "the dangers" and "how difficult" this mission will be. "Our team has been ready for months, but today it does not have the minimum security guarantees and local authorization for the visit," he lamented.

The organization points to this "emblematic" case as proof of "a broader and more generalized fact": "To this day, the ICRC still does not have open and repeated access to all the prisoners of war in this international armed conflict" despite the "eight months of persistent requests" to be able to visit all the detention centers.

In addition, the ICRC regrets that "blaming the ICRC (...) does not help prisoners of war or their families." "Those who can do something for prisoners of war in any international armed conflict are the States involved and the detention authorities," she stressed.

"It is they who have the obligation to treat them in a humane way in accordance with the Geneva Conventions and give the ICRC access to all of them," he stressed.

In addition, the ICRC has recalled that according to the Third Geneva Convention, prisoners of war are entitled to regular visits by ICRC envoys. "When we visit prisoners of war we give them and their families the emotional lifeline they need to stay in touch," he said.

It also provides medical assistance and confidentiality. "Prisoners of war and their families deserve that glimmer of hope and humanity in the suffering of armed conflict," the ICRC said.