Denisova: 121 Ukrainians imprisoned in Russia for political reasons

“To date, the Russian Federation has illegally imprisoned 121 Ukrainian citizens, including 86 Crimean Tatars, for political reasons. They experience reprisals because of their religious beliefs, are subjected to ill-treatment and torture,” Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova said at a meeting with OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Ukrinform reports.

According to her, the occupiers persecute Ukrainian citizens even for the pro-Ukrainian views of relatives living in the government-controlled territory.

“Today it became known about the searches in the house of the mother of Ukrainian volunteer and civil society activist Stanislav Krasnov in the temporarily occupied Simferopol. They were conducted in violation of procedural rights, without the involvement of lawyers. At the same time, the property of the 74-year-old woman was damaged, and she was unjustifiably detained for several hours in the so-called ‘FSB investigation department’,” Denisova said.

The observance of educational rights of the Hungarian national minority was also touched upon during the meeting. The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner noted that the Ukrainian-Hungarian interdepartmental working group on education with the involvement of the public has been working in Zakarpattia region since September this year to improve the quality of the educational process in the region's polyethnic environment.

Denisova also drew attention to the problems faced by the Roma community as access to information, social, educational, healthcare services, employment, and documentation became even more relevant amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ukrainian Ombudsperson and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities agreed on further cooperation and dialogue to protect the rights of national minorities and indigenous peoples in Ukraine.

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