A Ukrainian who was tortured by the Russians filed a lawsuit in the Argentine court for the first time

A Ukrainian sued the Federal Court of Argentina for torturing Russians / Photo: Reuters

A citizen of Ukraine, whose name has not been disclosed, filed a criminal lawsuit for the first time with the Federal Court of Argentina regarding the torture that was applied to him in the territory of Ukraine occupied by Russia.

This is stated in the press release of The Reckoning Project, which is at the disposal of UP and Reuters

According to the publication, on April 15, The Reckoning Project, an initiative of Ukrainian and international journalists and lawyers documenting war crimes, together with an injured citizen of Ukraine present in Buenos Aires, filed a criminal lawsuit with the Federal Court of Argentina.

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«Through this lawsuit, the victim, Mr. M (name withheld for security reasons), is asking the Federal Court to investigate the torture inflicted on him by identified and unidentified Russian officials and persons associated with them, who themselves tortured him and assisted in the torture,» says the press release.

It is reported that the Ukrainian's lawsuit contains an account of torture by electric current during his detention by the Russians in one of the Ukrainian cities occupied by them.

According to Reuters, the lawsuit alleges that during the torture, electric cables were attached to the man's ear and finger, which passed an electric current through his body. He and others were held in cells with an area of 10 meters, with 12 to 20 people in each cell, the complaint states.

«They are confirmed by the findings of international organizations, in particular the UN, which documented similar cases of torture that were used against other persons in the territory of the same facility where Mr. M was held. The torture of Mr. M was carried out with the assistance of institutions affiliated with the Russian state and their leaders,» noted in The Reckoning Project.

A Ukrainian sued the Federal Court of Argentina for torturing Russians / Photo: Reuters

A Ukrainian sued the Federal Court of Argentina for torturing Russians / Photo: Reuters

According to Reuters, the Ukrainian lawsuit accuses one individual named, two individuals identified by their callsigns or military insignia, and other unnamed individuals of using electric shocks and illegal deprivation of liberty as forms of torture in mid-to-late 2022.

«I was detained at work. Then they tortured me. Electric current was used. It was incredibly painful and I passed out. I was lucky to survive. A lot of people are still there,» he told Reuters in an interview in his Buenos Aires apartment on the eve of the lawsuit.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Defense of Russia refused to comment.

The Reckoning Project emphasizes that the Argentine Constitution, on the basis of universal jurisdiction, allows courts to try international crimes, in particular, crimes against humanity and war crimes, regardless of where exactly they were committed. Over the years, Argentina has taken a leading role in the fight against impunity both at the national and international levels, considering cases from different countries under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Argentina's judicial system has made landmark decisions in cases involving the crime of torture.

We remind you that, as of November 2023, since the beginning of the large-scale invasion, law enforcement officers entered into the Unified Register of Pretrial Investigations information on 481 facts of ill-treatment, torture, infliction of bodily harm on the civilian population during the occupation of part of the territory of the Mykolaiv region by the military forces of the Russian Federation.