PACE, meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg, called on member states to adopt sanctions – in particular travel bans and freezing of accounts – against individuals involved in the kidnapping, unlawful detention, unfair trial and conviction of Nadyia Savchenko, unless she is released without further delay. The Assembly felt that these measures should also be considered with regard to the cases of ten other Ukrainian prisoners reportedly detained by the Russian authorities.
Deeply concerned at the numerous reports of inhuman and degrading treatment of individuals captured during the war in Ukraine, PACE also urged the separatist groups controlling the occupied regions of Donetsk and Luhansk to release their prisoners and hostages and cease all violations of human rights.
The members of the Assembly stressed that it was essential that all parties to the conflict “implement, without further delay, the Minsk agreement, especially prioritising the paragraph on the release of all captured persons” and the exchange of prisoners, and comply with international humanitarian law and the provisions of the Geneva Convention on prisoners of war and the protection of civilians.
In a resolution adopted on the basis of the report by Nellija Kleinberga (Latvia, ALDE), the Assembly also called on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that following their release, the individuals in question were assisted with their return home and provided with medical, social and psychological support. The PACE added that the state should provide financial support to the families of those still being held captive.
