The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a statement claiming that the organization did not guarantee the safety of POWs leaving the Azovstal plant and detained by Russian troops.
The Red Cross denies responsibility for death of Ukrainian prisoners of war, and in particular the soldiers of the Azovstal garrison killed in the terrorist attack set up by the Russian invaders in Olenivka, as the ICRC’s statement issued on Wednesday, August 3rd, reads.
"We did not guarantee the safety of the PoWs once in enemy hands because it is not within our power to do so. We had made this clear to the parties in advance. It is the obligation of parties to the conflict to ensure POWs are protected against acts of violence, intimidation, and public curiosity, as well as against the effects of hostilities. Only parties to the conflict can definitively ensure the safety and security of PoWs", the Red Cross stated.
The ICRC stressed that the Red Cross facilitated the safe passage of combatants out of the Azovstal plant, “in coordination with the parties to the conflict” as a neutral intermediary.
After terrorist attack in Olenivka, the Red Cross requested access to the penal facility and to all places where victims are being treated or where the bodies may have been transferred. The ICRC also offered to support the evacuation of the wounded and to donate medical supplies, protective equipment, and forensic materials — as of yet this offer remains unanswered.
The organization claimed it could not force “the parties to the conflict” to give access to the POWs in Olenivka – “it depended on parties' willingness", the statement reads.
According to the statement, the ICRC visited this location once, in May this year, to deliver water tanks for the facility, but they did not have access to POWs held there on an individual basis.
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