More than 80 political prisoners in occupied Crimea now

This is stated in the research "Russian military presence in Ukraine and its impact on human rights situation" which informs about the human rights situation before and after the illegal annexation of Crimea. The research was presented at the Ukrinform news agency on Wednesday.

“It is no secret that human rights in the occupied territories have been massively violated since the beginning of the occupation of Crimea. These are violations of the right to life, imprisonment, torture, enforced disappearance... Currently, 81 Crimeans have been imprisoned for their political convictions and more than 10 people are considered victims of enforced disappearance,” said Crimean Human Rights Group analyst Oleksandr Siedov, adding that there is also no freedom of religion in Crimea.

Natalia Belitser, the expert of the Pylyp Orlyk Institute for Democracy, stressed that the Ukrainian and international human rights organizations stated a significant and constant deterioration of the human rights situation in Crimea after the occupation and illegal annexation of the peninsula by Russia in 2014. These violations concern practically all spheres: civil, political, economic, cultural rights, etc.

During the presentation, the research participants provided statistics showing that nearly 400 violations of the right to assembly and more than 300 violations of freedom of speech and journalists' rights have been recorded since Crimea was occupied. Since the beginning of 2019, 73 raids, 69 detentions and 67 arrests have been conducted. Currently, about 90 Crimeans are being held in Crimean and Russian prisons for politically motivated reasons.

Mainly pro-Ukrainian activists — first and foremost, Crimean Tatars — are subjected to repression.

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