CrimeaSOS: At least 65 people were kidnapped on the peninsula after the occupation

During the 10 years of Russiaʼs annexation of the Crimean peninsula, at least 65 people became victims of enforced disappearances, the fate and whereabouts of 21 of them are still unknown. 6 citizens were found dead. Members of the illegal armed group "Self-defense of Crimea", ex-employees of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Crimea, the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation, law enforcement officers and units of the Russian transport police may be involved in the abductions.

This was reported by an analyst of the CrimeaSOS human rights organization Yevhen Yaroshenko.

Among the missing: Ivan Bondarets, Valerii Vashchuk, Vasyl Chernysh, Timur Shaimardanov, Seyran Zinedinov, Eskender Ibraimov, Islam Dzhepparov, Jevdet Islyamov, Eskender Apseliamov, Fedir Kostenko, Mukhtar Arislanov, Serlan Aniev, Arlen Shaliev, Arlen Saliev, E. Yu Ablyazov, Haydai L. S., Pavlenko T. M.

It is not only those who oppose the Russian occupation and are engaged in socio-political activities who are forcibly disappearing. This also applies to those citizens who committed a crime and were detained by law enforcement officers of the occupying power in violation of human rights.

According to Yaroshenko, we are talking about cases when the reasons for the arrest are not informed and charges are not brought, the lawyerʼs assistance is limited, and the guilt is forced to confess through torture.

It is noted that Ukrainian law enforcement officers are investigating the facts of enforced disappearances of citizens on the peninsula. They qualify the actions of those involved in disappearances under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular:

• violation of the laws and customs of war;
• illegal deprivation of liberty or kidnapping;
• premeditated murder.

An effective investigator is hindered by the temporary absence of Ukrainian government control over Crimea, the practical impossibility of relatives or witnesses to travel to the controlled territory due to the full-scale war, and their fears for their safety.

On the occupied peninsula since the beginning of 2024, 92 people have been arrested for political reasons, 46 of them are Crimean Tatars. In total, during the period of occupation in Crimea, there are 356 political prisoners and those prosecuted for criminal "cases", 222 of them are representatives of the Crimean Tatar people.

In June of this year, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) recognized that Russia systematically violated human rights in the temporarily occupied Crimea.