Quote (Meanwhile @ Jun 7 2023 01:57pm)
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In 2016, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch received several credible allegations of abuse and torture by the regiment.[228] Reports published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented looting of civilian homes and unlawful detention and torture of civilians between September 2014 and February 2015 "by Ukrainian armed forces and the Azov regiment in and around Shyrokyne".[229][230]
Another OHCHR report documented an instance of rape and torture, writing: "A man with a mental disability was subject to cruel treatment, rape and other forms of sexual violence by 8 to 10 members of the 'Azov' and the 'Donbas Battalion' (another Ukrainian battalion) battalions in August–September 2014. The victim's health subsequently deteriorated and he was hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital."[230] A report from January 2015 stated that a Donetsk Republic supporter was detained and tortured with electricity and waterboarding and struck repeatedly on his genitals, which resulted in his confessing to spying for pro-Russian militants.[230]: 20
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The Azov Battalion has been described as a far-right militia,[63][14] with connections to neo-Nazism[236] and members wearing neo-Nazi and SS symbols and regalia, and expressing neo-Nazi views.[61][237]
The unit's insignia features the Wolfsangel (or a mirrored variation of it),[238][239][240][241] a German heraldic charge inspired by historic wolf traps adopted by the Nazi Party and by Wehrmacht and SS units.[242] Its insignia also used to feature the Black Sun,[243][244][245][233][231] both of which remain two popular neo-Nazi symbols.[232][216][243][237] Azov soldiers have worn fascist or Nazi-associated symbols on their uniforms,[246] including swastikas and SS symbols.[20] In 2014, the German ZDF television network showed images of Azov fighters wearing helmets with swastika symbols and "the SS runes of Hitler's infamous black-uniformed elite corps".[247] In 2015, Marcin Ogdowski, a Polish war correspondent, gained access to one of Azov's bases located in the former holiday resort Majak; Azov fighters showed him Nazi tattoos as well as Nazi emblems on their uniforms.[248][14] According to political scientist Kacper Rekawek, an intention behind the use of such symbols during the war in Donbas especially in 2014 was to "intimidate, annoy, and provoke the Russians".[249] The Reporting Radicalism initiative from Freedom House notes that "Accidental use of this symbol or its use without an understanding of its connotations (for example as a talisman) is rare", and ".. in Ukraine, the use of a Wolfsangel as a heraldic symbol or a traditional talisman would be uncharacteristic".[250]