For 9 months of 2020, at least 40 searches were recorded in the occupied Crimea, 25 of which were in the dwellings of the Crimean Tatars. This indicator is 2 times less than last year for the same period. Such dynamics, according to the experts of the CTRC, is associated with the coronavirus pandemic. This is stated in the analysis of human rights violations in Crimea for 9 months of 2020 by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.
Despite the decrease in the number of searches in the reporting period, the trend of conducting mass searches on suspicion of involvement in the organization Hizb ut-Tahrir and Jehovah's Witnesses banned in the Russian Federation remains unchanged. Also, formal reasons for the searches were alleged participation in the Noman Çelebicihan Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion, espionage for Ukraine, extremism, incitement to hatred or enmity, etc.
During the searches, the security forces often violate the rights of the victims. In particular, during the penetration into the 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.
We remind that after the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, searches have become a regular practice on the peninsula. These actions are an act of intimidation and intimidation of people disloyal to Russia's actions in Crimea. According to the CTRC, 86 searches were recorded in the occupied Crimea in 2019, 64 of which were carried out in the houses of the Crimean Tatars. This figure is almost identical to the number of searches in 2018 (92), but significantly exceeds the figure for 2017 (62).