The investigation found how “torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are used as state-sanctioned tools of systemic oppression in the Russian Federation,” the report said.
The author of the document is the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Russia, Mariana Katsarova, who noted that the use of torture is “not a new phenomenon” for Moscow.
However, she said that after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, torture “has become a concerted strategy, a tool to suppress civil space, to silence all anti-war critics or dissidents – anyone who disagrees with the policies of the Russian authorities and the so-called for the special military operation”.
Katsarova said that there are at least 1,300 political prisoners in Russia, but their true number could be 1,700 or even higher. Among them are 30 journalists.
Thousands of Ukrainians are also believed to have been taken to Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory or Russia itself. They too experience humiliating and brutal treatment, including rape and other sexual violence.
The Russian state “not only condones but actively participates in acts of torture, using it as a method to extract confessions, punish dissidents and maintain control,” Kacarova’s report said.
Torturers use a variety of methods, including simulated drowning, hanging from the ceiling, and mock executions.