Eighteen cases of arbitrary detentions of civilians by both parties to Donbas conflict – international human rights activists

The international human rights activists have recorded 18 cases of arbitrary detentions and torture of civilians by both parties to the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine within the period from March 2015 to May 2016.

As the Human Rights Information Centre correspondent reports, this is stated in the joint report by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, presented today.

The report “You Don’t Exist. Arbitrary Detentions, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture in Eastern Ukraine” is based on data from 40 interviews with victims, their families, witnesses, lawyers and other people.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented nine cases of unlawful prolonged detention of civilians by the Ukrainian authorities in informal detention sites, including several cases of enforced disappearances, and nine cases of unlawful prolonged detentions of civilians by pro-Russian separatists. Most of the cases date back to 2015 and the first half of 2016.

“The fates of people in eastern Ukraine, which are arrested and hidden by the warring parties, are completely dependent on their captors,” says Tanya Lokshina, the senior researcher for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch.

“Torture and secret detention are not forgotten or unknown practices in Ukraine. They happen right now, on both sides of the conflict. The countries, that provide support to any of the parties, are well aware of that. They must not close eyes to this heinous violence,” notes Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia Denis Krivosheev.

According to the report, the Ukrainian government and pro-Ukrainian military groups detained civilians on suspicion of having links with or supporting pro-Russian separatists, while the separatists detained civilians suspected of supporting or spying for the Ukrainian authorities.

Torture of detainees is a crime and is prohibited under any circumstances, say Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

In some cases, the detentions constituted enforced disappearances, meaning that the authorities in question refused to acknowledge the detention of the person or refused to provide any information on their whereabouts or fate. Most of those detained suffered torture or other forms of ill-treatment. Several were denied needed medical attention for the injuries they sustained in detention.

In almost all of the eighteen cases investigated, release of the civilian detainees was at some point discussed by the relevant side in the context of prisoner exchanges. In nine out of the eighteen cases, they were in fact exchanged. This gives rise to serious concerns that both sides may be detaining civilians in order to have “currency” for potential exchange of prisoners.

Human rights activists point out that in the three cases the SBU allegedly continued the enforced disappearances, keeping the individuals in unacknowledged detention for periods ranging from six weeks to 15 months. One individual was exchanged, the other two simply released without trial.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch believe unlawful, unacknowledged detentions have taken place in SBU premises in Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Izyum, and Mariupol.  The UN report dated June 2016 also noted 16 people remained in secret detention at the SBU premises in Kharkiv.

Amnesty International и Human Rights Watch received compelling testimony from a range of sources, including recently released detainees, that as of June 2016 as many as 16 people remain in secret detention at the SBU premises in Kharkiv. Ukrainian authorities have denied operating any other detention facilities than their only official temporary detention center in Kyiv and denied having any information regarding the alleged abuses by SBU documented in this report.

In the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR), local security services operate with no checks and balances, detain individuals arbitrarily and hold them in their own detention facilities.

International standards require investigations into allegations of torture and other ill-treatment, and if sufficient evidence, those responsible must be held accountable.

“All the parties to the conflict must ensure that the forces controlled by them are aware of the consequences of violence against detainees in accordance with international law,” say representatives of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.