Ukrainian Ombudsperson asks Military Prosecutor’s Office to report on inmates of ‘secret prisons’

 Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Valeria Lutkovska appealed to Chief Military Prosecutor Anatoly Matios with a request to report on results of checking the facts of unlawful detention of civilians, mentioned in the joint report by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and the measures taken in this regard.

This is reported by the press office of the Commissioner.

The press office reminded that on July 21 Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch released the joint report “‘You Don’t Exist.’ Arbitrary Detentions, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture in Eastern Ukraine”. In particular, the report presents cases of enforced disappearances in areas controlled by the Government of Ukraine and evidence of illegal or unofficial holding in custody in premises of the Security Service of Ukraine in Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Izium, and Mariupol.

As reported by the international organizations, the Military Prosecutor’s Office has undertaken to investigate into cases of prolonged illegal detention of civilians in unofficial places of detention of Ukrainian authorities, which occurred mostly in 2015 and the first half of 2016.

Valeria Lutkovska once again stressed in the appeal that unlawful detention of persons in custody, torture and ill-treatment and degrading treatment of people is prohibited under the international law on the protection of human rights and international humanitarian law.

“Pursuant to the international standards, each report on torture and ill-treatment should be followed by an effective investigation and perpetrators must be held accountable if there is sufficient evidence,” the Commissioner underscored in the statement.