The Crimean Tatar Resource Center presents an analysis of human rights violations in the occupied Crimea for 9 months of 2021. According to the organization, during the reporting period, Russian security forces carried out 46 searches, 238 arrests / detentions and 238 interrogations, interviews and conversations. The total number of arrests for 9 months of this year is 147: 25 – new arrests, 18 – administrative arrests, 83 – prolongation of detention, 22 – sentences. There were 292 cases of violation of the right to a fair trial, 122 – to the healthcare access. Also, 38 cases of transportation of political prisoners of Crimea were recorded. Fines were imposed 55 times. Most of the violations by the occupants are attributed to the representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people. This practice has become systemic on the peninsula.
The press conference was attended by the Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, the head of the department of legal and foreign affairs of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Eskender Bariiev, the communications manager of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center Tetyana Podvorniak.
According to the CTRC, for 9 months of 2021, 46 searches were recorded in the occupied Crimea, 26 of which were carried out in the houses of the Crimean Tatars. This figure exceeds the number of searches in 9 months of 2020. Then the CTRC recorded 40 searches. The trend of persecution for political and religious reasons has remained unchanged since the beginning of the occupation of the peninsula.
In January, three searches were recorded: of the wife of the political prisoner Ivan Yatskin and of those suspected of justifying terrorism on social networks.
In February, security officials conducted 10 searches in the so-called Jehovah's Witnesses case, the so-called Hizb ut-Tahrir case and one in the home of activist Ludovica Papadopolu.
In April, 6 searches were carried out: 4 in the houses of the Crimean Tatars Abduseliam Seliametov, Seiran Taimazov, Eldar Fetliaiev, Ruslan Ramazanov without serious reasons, in the house of the brother of the defendant in the so-called Hizb ut-Tahrir case Enver Seytosmanov, as well as a resident of Alushta for appeals extremist activity .
In May, 4 searches were recorded: in the house of Aiub Rakhimov, in the home of the Hafarov family, where Aiub Rakhimov resided. And also in the houses of the Crimean Tatar activists: Zidan Adzhykeliamov and Muslim Zevriiev.
In July, two searches were recorded: Abdulla Ibrahimov was arrested for three days in the house of the parents of Haida Rizaieva, an activist and assistant of the MP of Ukraine, and in the house of the Crimean Tatars in the city of Yevpatoriia.
In August, 5 searches were recorded in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case.
In September, 7 searches were recorded: in the so-called case of committing sabotage, as well as in the house of the Crimean activist Stanislav Krasnov.
“During the searches, the security forces often violate the rights of the victims. In particular, during penetration into dwellings, cases of damage to property were recorded, or a search was carried out in the absence of the owner, or the planting of prohibited literature took place. In addition, during the search in May, Aiub Rakhimov was murdered. The occupants claim that he resisted the arrest”,- said Eskender Bariiev.
During the reporting period, the CTRC recorded 238 arrests / detentions, 202 of which were in relation to the Crimean Tatars. The number has increased significantly compared to 2020, then 68 arrests were recorded. A number of recorded arrests were carried out after the searches. Residents of Crimea were detained on suspicion of involvement in the organizations banned in the Russian Federation Hizb ut-Tahrir, Jehovah's Witnesses, treason, also it is known about the detention at the administrative border.
“Such a large number of violations in this category is also due to the fact that the occupants en masse detained activists who were sent from Crimea to the city of Rostov-on-Don to announce the verdict to the defendants in the so-called Bilohirsk Hizb ut-Tahrir case. Then it was known about 126 detentions, all in relation to the Crimean Tatars. On September 4, 58 activists were detained, who gathered under the building of the so-called Directorate of the FSB of Russia for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and demanded to provide information about the place of detention of the detained Crimean Tatars Nariman Dzhelyalov, Aziz and Asan Akhtemov”,- said the Head of the Board of the CTRC.
Separately, it was noted about the arrest of a native of Kryvyy Rih Vladyslav Yosypenko, who was detained after the rally dedicated to the birthday of Taras Shevchenko in Simferopol. Torture was used against him: it is known that Vladislav was tortured with electric current for two days. Also indicative are the detentions of the Crimean Tatars Aziz and Asan Akhtemovs, who were tortured and threatened with murder in order to obtain confessions.
For 9 months of 2021, 238 cases of interrogation, interviews and conversations were recorded in the occupied Crimea, 202 of which were in relation to the Crimean Tatars. Compared to last year, the number of such violations has increased over the same period. Then 70 violations were recorded.
During the reporting period, 147 cases of arrests were recorded in the occupied Crimea, 106 of which were against representatives of the indigenous people. Out of 147 cases: 22 – sentences, 18 – administrative arrests, 25 – new arrests, 83 – extensions of detention. For 9 months of last year, 195 cases of arrests were recorded. The number of arrests, according to experts from the CTRC, has decreased due to the coronavirus pandemic.
For 9 months of 2021, 292 cases of violation of the right to a fair trial were recorded, 211 of which were against representatives of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people. This figure is lower than last year's, but the very number of violations of the right to a fair trial demonstrates the illegal activity of the so-called courts in the occupied territory, by decisions of which more than 100 political prisoners of Crimea continue to be held in pre-trial detention centers and prisons.
At least 25 people were unlawfully taken into custody, at least 22 verdicts were passed in the so-called cases. In addition, the CTRC recorded 83 cases of prolongation of detention terms. It is also worth noting that in 2021, the so-called courts continued to reject appeals and defense motions in the so-called cases of political prisoners in Crimea.
Violations of the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health are also systemic in nature, and for 9 months of 2021, 122 cases of violations of the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health were recorded, 86 of which were against Crimean Tatars. This indicator exceeds the number of such violations for 9 months of 2020. Then the CTRC recorded 74 cases, of which 58 were in relation to representatives of the indigenous people.
As communications manager Tetiana Podvorniak noted, this trend characterizes the deliberate policy of not providing adequate medical assistance to political prisoners of Crimea in places of detention, especially against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to the organization, for 9 months of 2021, 38 cases of transferring political prisoners of Crimea were recorded, 35 of which were against representatives of the indigenous people.
The CTRC report also contains information on the violation of religious rights, environmental norms on the peninsula, on inappropriate conditions in pre-trial detention centers and prisons, on the violation of the rights of political prisoners, on the violation of women's rights and illegal military exercises in the occupied Crimea.