Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal responded to a petition demanding to suspend the right of Russian prisoners of war to telephone. He emphasized that telephone conversations are important so that Russians are not afraid of surrendering.
This is stated in the response of Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to the corresponding petition on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The petition asked that the Russian prisoners not be allowed to use the telephone until Russia provides such an opportunity to the Ukrainian prisoners of war on a regular basis. The author of the petition Inna Turova stressed that such actions by the government of Ukraine would not violate human rights or the Geneva Convention, since the latter only guarantees the right to correspondence.
In response to the petition, Shmyhal noted that telephone conversations perform an important informative function. With the help of this, the Russians receive information that they should not be afraid of being captured, as Ukraine complies with all the provisions of the Convention and provides proper conditions for keeping prisoners of war.
In addition, according to the Prime Minister, this will make it possible to release more defenders of Ukraine who are in Russian captivity.
Shmyhal noted that telephone conversations are provided in accordance with the daily schedule at a time free from work, investigative activities or participation in court hearings. The camp administration can limit the duration of one conversation to 15 minutes. Prisoners of war who are suspected or accused of committing criminal offenses may speak on the telephone only with the written permission of an investigator, prosecutor or court within the framework of criminal proceedings.
In addition, Shmyhal referred to the clauses of the Geneva Convention, which stipulate that prisoners of war are allowed to both send and receive letters and postcards. The Prime Minister also mentioned the International Committee of the Red Crossʼ comment that this also applies to communication by other means, including phone calls, video calls, recorded messages and e-mail.
He emphasized that the electronic petition cannot contain, in particular, encroachment on human rights and freedoms.