The Russian Federation has so far illegally imprisoned 121 Ukrainian citizens, including 86 Crimean Tatars, for political reasons.
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmyla Denisova said this at a meeting with OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) High Commissioner on National Minorities Kairat Abdrakhmanov.
"To date, the Russian Federation has illegally imprisoned 121 Ukrainian citizens, including 86 Crimean Tatars, for political reasons."
She added that the occupiers persecute Ukrainian citizens even for the pro-Ukrainian views of relatives living in the government-controlled territory of Ukraine.
"They experience reprisals because of their religious beliefs, are subjected to ill-treatment and torture,” Denisova stressed.
Lyudmyla Denisova
The Human Rights Commissioner also mentioned the recent searches in the house of the mother of Ukrainian volunteer and civil society activist Stanislav Krasnov in the city of Simferopol in occupied Crimea.
"The searches 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,"said the ombudsperson.
During the meeting, the parties also discussed the observance of educational rights of the Hungarian national minority. Denisova noted that the Ukrainian-Hungarian interdepartmental working group on education with the involvement of the public has been working in the Zakarpattia region since September this year to improve the quality of the educational process in the region's poly-ethnic environment.
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.
