NIB reminds: special rules on information apply during the war.

NIB reminds: special rules on information apply during the war.

The Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War has developed recommendations for media workers, persons released from captivity and relatives of POWs. Their observance will greatly facilitate our joint work on the liberation from captivity of all of the Ukraine`s Defenders.

The relatives of the Defenders who are temporarily in captivity, and the mass media

❌Should avoid:
• Providing of personal data/information of defenders to the mass media (for example: a prisoner stated that he is a paramedic or a driver, and his freed comrade gives different information in a public interview).
• Consciously or unconsciously participating in the psychological operations of the enemy (for example, calls from places of captivity to relatives of POWs: "Why don't we take yours from us? Do something, go riot!").
• Excessive media covering of prisoners who were not widely known publicly before being captured. This can complicate the return process.

✅Should proceed with:
•Applications to international organizations (PACE, OSCE, UN General Assembly, UN Commission on Human Rights, state governments) with demands to put pressure on russia so it conscientiously implements the Geneva Convention.
•Contacting the ICRC, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances.
•Keeping in touch regularly with the Coordination Headquarters.
•Reporting information about prisoners to the National Information Bureau (NIB) and to the materials of criminal proceedings (through the police detective).
•In the case when someone tries personally or through online tools (forms, chatbots, etc.) located on unofficial resources, to find out any data about military personnel (unit number, location, personal data, etc.) or to demand money or other valuables as payment for the alleged return, exchange, inclusion in exchange lists, etc. — immediately notify the Coordination Headquarters and law enforcement agencies.

The defenders released from captivity, their relatives and the mass media

❌Should avoid:
•Spreading messages like "he will recover quickly and return to the frontline." This may have a negative impact on further negotiation processes.
•Disclosing to the mass media personal data/information about comrades who are still in captivity.
•Spreading excessive specifical information during public statements about rights violations (torture, detention conditions), or using general narratives about similar cases. Comrades still in captivity of the enemy may suffer due to detailed publicly of disseminated information. Also, the enemy can evaluate the effectiveness of torture based on the memories of those released from captivity.
•Distributing photo or video materials that depict comrades who have not yet been released. From mentioned data, the enemy can get additional information about what the prisoner was doing.

✅Should proceed with:
•Emphasizing the obligations of russia to conscientiously implement the Geneva Convention while talking to the media.
•Support the relatives of those who remained in captivity. Ukraine is constantly working on their release.
•Helping the relatives of prisoners to submit data directly to the NIB.
•Keeping in mind that every word spoken can affect the conditions of stay of those who remained in captivity. (Including in the so-called "legal" field of the russian federation: the classification of the defenders' actions may be changed).