Ukraine: Captives Describe Brutal Beatings

(Donetsk) – Self-proclaimed authorities in eastern Ukraine should immediately release people held in captivity and put an end to abductions by armed men acting on their behalf. The fate of dozens of captives remains unknown, and those released whom Human Rights Watch interviewed reported severe beatings in captivity.

“Armed men affiliated with anti-Kiev forces have been snatching up activists, journalists, and local officials,” said Anna Neistat, associate program director at Human Rights Watch. “Some who’ve been released are bruised and injured, while the fate of dozens of others is not known.”

On May 4, 2014, anti-Kiev forces abducted six men, three of them town council members, from the town of Novogradovka. They were released the following day. All had been severely beaten, and some were seriously injured.

Human Rights Watch also documented the abduction on May 1 of Artem Popyk and on April 29 of Yaroslav Malanchuk, members of the local election commission in Konstantinovka. Their fate and whereabouts remain unknown.

According to the media and activists in eastern Ukraine, the anti-Kiev authorities in Donetsk region still hold at least two dozen other captives.

On May 3, anti-Kiev forces in Sloviansk released unharmed seven military observers for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and their Ukrainian escorts.

Human rights law is fully applicable to all of Ukraine, including areas under the effective control of self-proclaimed authorities. Everyone involved has the responsibility to respect human rights, and the authorities claiming to exercise power in the territory need to ensure that forces under their control do not abuse human rights. The Ukrainian authorities, including the police, should take all possible measures to fulfill their obligations to protect people from abuse by all armed groups and to punish anyone who commits abuse.

“Anti-Kiev forces should immediately free all captives and rein in the armed men under their command,” Neistat said. “Foreign governments should use their influence to ensure that non-state forces in Eastern Ukraine stop abusing people and to secure the release and well-being of the captives.”