Hungary violated international law when accepting Ukrainian prisoners of war from Russia – Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner

Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman), has said that Hungary violates international law when it negotiates with Russia on bringing back Ukrainian prisoners of war without informing Ukraine.

Source: Lubinets on Telegram

Details: The official has stressed that Hungary had no authority to negotiate with Russia over Ukrainian prisoners of war without informing the Ukrainian side.

The only body that has the authority to raise the issue of the release or exchange of Ukrainian prisoners of war is the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.  

Lubinets has noted that Ukraine had not been informed of the planned transfer of prisoners of war to Hungary. And there were no requests from the Hungarian side saying that they were ready to join peace initiatives or facilitate the return of Ukrainian prisoners of war through their contacts.

Quote: "Can such actions by Hungary be interpreted as a violation of international humanitarian law and a violation of the rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war? In my opinion, yes.  

Why is Hungary doing this? I see it as playing along with Russian propaganda that Ukraine does not want to take back its prisoners of war, which is absolutely untrue. Thus, the Hungarian authorities are allowing Russia to show that if there is an initiative, the Russians are ready to hand over prisoners of war."

More details: At the same time, Ukraine immediately began to officially appeal to the Hungarian authorities. Lubinets sent a letter to the Hungarian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights demanding that he inform him, within the framework of his mandate, about the conditions in which they live and the way they are treated.

Quote: "I also appeal to the Russian Federation Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova to look into this situation and answer logical questions. How did it happen that 11 Ukrainian army prisoners of war ended up on the territory of Hungary? Why was the Ukrainian side not informed about this? 

I would add that Hungary should avoid Russian-style manipulative statements and show more constructiveness. After all, we are talking about people's lives, respect for their rights and freedoms.  

I also appeal to the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) to analyse and assess the actions of the Hungarian Ombudsman."

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