UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission: Detainees tortured systematically in occupied Donbas

"In self-proclaimed republics, we recorded a systematic practice of torture and ill-treatment of detainees. The frequency, intensity and length of the torture and ill-treatment varied considerably, however they usually continued until a detainee agreed to confess or to provide information," Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission Matilda Bogner said during the presentation of the report on the human rights situation in Ukraine from 16 November 2019 to 15 February 2020, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Bogner added that methods of torture and ill-treatment included beatings, electric shocks, asphyxiation, mock executions, sexual violence and so on. “In both self-proclaimed republics, the members of the ‘ministries of state security’ are responsible for these blatant facts," the Head of the Mission stressed.

She added that tortures had been often carried out in the notorious ‘Izoliatsiia’ detention facility (in Donetsk). “One detainee told OHCHR that he was tortured every other day, but could not remember how many days this lasted because he lost track of time. He begged his torturers to kill him as he could not bear the pain anymore. Another detainee said he tried to commit suicide after being tortured because of the high level of pain,” Bogner informed.

The mission also documented a consistent pattern of arbitrary detention, often amounting to enforced disappearance.

The Head of Mission noted that the presence of such crimes made the issue of access for the international monitors to the detainees in the occupied Donbas “even more relevant and urgent.”

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