Ensuring the safety and rights of civilian detainees and prisoners of war (POWs) should be a priority in any future negotiations to end Russia's war against Ukraine, 31 human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, said today. Ukrainian, Russian, and international human rights organizations launched the campaign, called People First.
"If and when negotiations take place, there will be extremely complicated issues that may take years to resolve, and meanwhile thousands of Ukrainians are held by Russia in horrific conditions." said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "This campaign urges all actors to make the immediate release of civilian detainees, and the timely exchange and repatriation of prisoners of war the first issue they address."
The Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties and Russian rights group Memorial, 2022 Noble Peace Prize co-laureates, initiated the campaign.
During his election campaign, United States President Donald J. Trump repeatedly pledged to end the war in Ukraine. Since his inauguration on January 20, 2025, there has been widespread discussion about whether negotiations will take place in the near future.
The campaign calls on all parties that would be involved in negotiations, whenever they take place, to prioritize the immediate and unconditional release of all detained Ukrainian civilians, both adults and children. These include civilians unlawfully detained and held by Russia in occupied areas of Ukraine and those who were detained in occupied areas and then forcibly transferred to Russia, where they are held in detention facilities. It also calls for the earliest possible release and repatriation of all POWs as a priority in the context of agreement negotiations.
According to Ukraine's ombudsperson, 16,000 Ukrainian civilians are held unlawfully in Russia. The laws of war obligate warring parties to immediately and unconditionally release civilians unlawfully detained during international armed conflict, including under military occupation, and to allow them to return to their homes. Ukrainians released from detention in areas currently under Russian control should be allowed to leave for Ukrainian government-controlled areas of the country if they wish to do so.
The upcoming negotiations may also present a unique opportunity to facilitate the return to Ukraine of thousands of children who had been forcibly transferred to Russia.
Thousands of POWs are held by both sides of the conflict; roughly two-thirds are Ukrainian combatants captured by Russia. While the Geneva Conventions require the prompt release and repatriation of POWs at the end of active hostilities, if negotiations are held, they would offer an opportunity to highlight the urgency of achieving this, particularly considering the poor health condition many detainees may be in, due to ill-treatment.
Unites Nations agencies and human rights groups have found that Ukrainian civilians and POWs held by Russian authorities in connection with the war have been tortured and subjected to inhumane and degrading treatment, including the degradation of their national identity and their personal dignity. Some of them were convicted of grave crimes in sham trials.
"I have spoken to many survivors of Russian captivity who told me how they and other captive detainees were beaten, tortured with electric shocks, and raped," said Oleksandra Matviichuk, a Ukrainian human rights lawyer and a leader of Center for Civil Liberties. "They told about having their nails torn out, their kneecaps shattered. They described how they had been deprived of food and sleep and how the dying had no access to medical assistance ..."
The UN has documented cases of torture and ill-treatment of Russian POWs during the initial stages of captivity, which, with a few exceptions, ceased upon their arrival at official internment facilities.
Russian authorities have imprisoned hundreds who have made anti-war statements or engaged in actions expressing support for or aimed at helping Ukraine. They should be released without delay and should face no limits on their freedom of movement, including to travel abroad if they wish to do so, the groups said.
"We wholeheartedly support the initiative of our colleagues, join them in the People First campaign, and urge the new US administration and all stakeholders that will be involved in or having influence on potential negotiations urgently to address these acute humanitarian issues," Williamson said.
