As many as 113 Ukrainian citizens are still being held in penitentiaries in Russia and annexed Crimea, Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada human rights commissioner Liudmyla Denisova has said.
“A total of 113 citizens of Ukraine, among them 89 Crimean Tatars, are being illegally held in penitentiaries in Russia and the territory of the Crimean Peninsula,” Denisova said at an OSCE conference.
According to her, the detained Ukrainians are regularly tortured, as well their rights are violated. Denisova called on the international community to pay attention to this.
The ombudsman also said that Ukrainians are not safe from being deprived of their liberty without any proper justification.
She said that on the territory of Russia and in the occupied Crimea, the principle of the presumption of innocence is violated with regard to the citizens of Ukraine, some citizens are missing.
Efforts to secure these people’s return to their home country are continuing, she said.
