Donetsk Asks OSCE, ICRC to Inspect Alleged Cases of Prisoner Abuse by Kiev

According to the Donetsk People's Republic's official, some of the prisoners released by Kiev stated that they had been tortured and had signs confirming it on their bodies.

MOSCOW, December 27 (Sputnik) — The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) sent a request to the OSCE and to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to investigate the alleged cases of prisoner abuse by Kiev, DPR's envoy at the Minsk peace talks said Saturday.

"We have proposed to the OSCE and to the Red Cross experts to participate in the medical examination of the released prisoners," Denis Pushilin told Donetsk News Agency in Minsk, adding that this could be the first step toward a large-scale inspection of prisoner abuse committed by the Ukrainian military.

According to Pushilin, some of the prisoners released by Kiev stated that they had been tortured and had signs confirming it on their bodies.

On November 26, the independence supporters swapped 145 people detained by them in exchange for 222 prisoners held by the Ukrainian military. The prisoner swap took place approximately 22 miles north of Donetsk.

The "all-for-all" prisoner exchange was agreed on between Kiev and east Ukrainian militias during a Contact Group meeting mediated by Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) in Minsk on September 19. Since then, the conflicting sides have conducted several rounds of prisoner exchanges.