Manifestations of cruel, inhuman types of behavior and torture of Ukrainian military who died in captivity

Leg Med (Tokyo). 2024 Mar:67:102395. doi: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2024.102395. Epub 2024 Jan 6.

Abstract

The given information and forensic medical characteristics of injuries found on the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers who were in Russian captivity and died as a result of cruel, inhuman treatment and torture in 2022-2023. According to their nature and morphological features, the damage could be the result of high temperature action using hot metal objects, but more likely, the result of the use of electric current conductors (bare end of the wire). In other cases, after the exhumation of the occupied territory of the Kharkiv region, the manifestations of torture were brain injuries and fractures of the bones of the body caused by blunt hard objects with a limited surface. All the injuries described by us correspond both to the list of physical evidence of torture of the "Istanbul Protocol" and to the list of war crimes of the "Rome Statute".

Keywords: Bodily injury; Forensic medicine; Istanbul Protocol; Rome Statute; Torture.

MeSH terms

  • Death
  • Fractures, Bone*
  • Humans
  • Military Personnel*
  • Torture*