For 9 months of 2019, 169 cases of interrogations and “conversations” were recorded in the occupied Crimea, 115 of which were related to the representatives of the Crimean Tatar people. The number of interrogations for this period, as well as the number of detentions, significantly exceeds the figure for 9 months of 2018. Back then, 111 cases of violations were recorded, 79 of which were related to Crimean Tatars. The number of detentions in the III quarter exceeds the figures for II and I – 72, 36 and 61, respectively. This is reported in the new analysis of human rights violations in Crimea by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.
Most of the interrogations and “conversations” were carried out after illegal detentions. The maximum number of such activities were recorded in March and July – 40 and 55, respectively – the months when the largest number of searches and detentions was carried out.
Russian security forces targeted mostly the Crimean Tatar and pro-Ukrainian activists, left-wing activists (15 cases of “conversations” were recorded in August alone), religious figures – imams and people allegedly associated with Hizb ut-Tahrir that is banned in the Russian Federation, and with "Jehovah's Witnesses". Also, Russian forces targeted Crimean Tatars allegedly participating in Noman Çelebicihan battalion, Crimean Tatar women, etc. A number of interrogations were conducted on the administrative border with occupied Crimea.
After the occupation of Crimea, systematic searches, detentions, and interrogations became regular practice on the peninsula. For 9 months of 2019, 80 searches were recorded in occupied Crimea, 62 of which were carried out in Crimean Tatars' households, 126 cases of detentions, 113 of which were against representatives of the Crimean Tatar people.