The United States on Wednesday condemned any Russian effort to hold tribunals for prisoners of war in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, labeling the proceedings "illegitimate."
Reports surfaced this week that Moscow is considering prosecuting Ukrainian prisoners of war (PoWs) under conditions that could amount to war crimes.
"The planned show trials are illegitimate and a mockery of justice, and we strongly condemn them," US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Washington believes "the Kremlin is attempting to deflect responsibility for President (Vladimir) Putin's war of aggression and distract from overwhelming evidence of the atrocities Russian forces have committed in Ukraine" since the February invasion, Price said.
"All members of Ukraine's armed forces, including domestic and foreign volunteers incorporated into the armed forces, are entitled to prisoner of war status if they are captured and must be afforded the treatment and protections commensurate with that status, according to the Geneva Conventions," he added.
The statement also called on Moscow to "comply with its obligations under international law."
The United Nations voiced similar alarm Tuesday.
"Under international law, individuals entitled to prisoner of war status have combatant immunity and cannot be prosecuted for having participated in hostilities, or for lawful acts of war committed in the course of the armed conflict, even if such acts would otherwise constitute an offense under domestic law," UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
She warned there are few details available about the potential for such trials, but that images posted by news outlets and on social media appear to show metal enclosures -- possibly intended to confine the detainees -- being built near a concert hall in Mariupol.
The UN rights office is concerned that prisoners of war have generally been held without access to independent monitors, exposing them to the risk of being tortured to extract a confession, Shamdasani added.