By Annisa Essack
05:09:2022

Human Rights Watch issued a report Thursday documenting the forcible transfer of Ukrainian citizens to Russia and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, which HRW says constitutes war crimes and potential crimes against humanity.

The 71-page report, We Had No Choice: “Filtration” and the Crime of Forcibly Transferring Ukrainian Civilians to Russia, includes interviews with 18 people who went to Russia — 15 from the Mariupol area, one from Donetsk and two from the Kharkiv region. It said Russian and Russian-affiliated authorities also subjected thousands of Ukrainians to a form of compulsory, punitive and abusive security screening called filtration.

Tanya Lokshina, director of the Russia program and an expert on the human rights situation in post-Soviet states at Human Rights Watch, joins us this morning from Tbilisi.

According to Lokshina, a forcible transfer is more than just a person being physically pushed into a vehicle and taken without permission. But, under international humanitarian law, or the law of war, if a person is under duress and there is no other choice but to follow the directions of the occupied power, it constitutes forcible transfer.

She added that forcible transfers are a war crime and can qualify as a crime against humanity under certain circumstances.

More than 3 million Ukrainians, according to Russian statistics and the same being quoted by Ukraine, have crossed the Russian border. Some travel voluntarily whilst others have no say or choice regarding their movements. Many feel they are being “convoyed” – citizens who Russian soldiers instructed to move in a specific direction to military trucks that took them to makeshift military bases. They spent some time there before being transferred by buses to school buildings in areas controlled by Russian armed groups. After spending the night, they are then bussed to the Russian border.

During this time, which is more than 24 hours, the soldiers would not respond to questions or provide any information.

Lokshina says that it seems that as Russia occupied new territories in Ukraine, they were getting citizens out of the way to Russian-controlled areas and into Russia without offering alternatives to Ukranian-controlled sites.

The Russian government, she says, is milking the situation for public relations purposes to show up in Europe and giving the impression that Ukrainians are fleeing not just to Europe but also to Russia. Thus, giving the perception that Ukrainians support the invasion.

She explained that she wasn’t optimistic regarding the report’s findings being taken on the recommendations and acting on them. However, she added that international actors could take to pressurise the Russian government into effecting the proposals, like their options and rights.

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