The OSCE is “seriously concerned” about Moscow’s treatment of Ukrainian civilians in “filtering camps” intended to identify those suspected of having ties to the Kyiv authorities, according to a report published on Thursday.
“According to witnesses”, this procedure “involves brutal interrogations and humiliating searches”, write the three authors of this 115-page document consulted by AFP, evoking an “alarming” fact.
Ukrainians evacuated from besieged cities, such as the strategic port of Mariupol, or those leaving territories occupied by Russian troops, are forced to transit through these centers. “Your personal data is recorded there, your fingerprints are taken and your identity documents are copied,” details the report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
About “20 such structures”
The goal is apparently to determine whether the people fought on the Ukrainian side or have connections to the Azov regiment or the Ukrainian authorities. “If so, these people are separated from others and often just disappear,” say the experts, two of whom traveled to Ukraine in June to complete their written work based on multiple sources.
“Some are transferred” to the self-declared separatist territories of Lugansk and Donetsk, “where they are detained or even killed,” he adds, “a practice that suggests that Russia uses these two entities to evade its international obligations.” Those who pass the test “are often sent to Russia, “with or without their consent.”
Once there, they are promised employment and free housing. They are certainly free of their movements but “many times they do not have enough information, money or telephone” to be able to leave the country, the report states. Kyiv has been denouncing for several weeks “deportations” that would have affected more than a million Ukrainians, assuring Moscow for its part that its only objective is to allow the “evacuation” of civilians from “dangerous areas”.
There are “about 20 such structures,” Yevhenii Tsybalium, Ukraine’s ambassador to the OSCE, was quoted as saying in the document.
“A Real World Horror Story”
This is the second OSCE report since the beginning of the conflict under the so-called “Moscow” mechanism, in which Russia has refused to cooperate. Covering the period from April to June, it confirms the discovery of “gross violations of rights” that may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“It’s a real-world horror story… It’s an affront to humanity, evil incarnate,” British Ambassador Neil Bush told the OSCE Permanent Council, promising to “document” the events. “We will work tirelessly to ensure that those responsible are held accountable for their actions,” he insisted.
The organization, created in 1975, in the midst of the Cold War, to promote East-West dialogue, had carried out a similar initiative in 2018 to examine crimes in Chechnya against LGBT+ people or in 2020, following the elections, the fraud and repression. in Belarus.
Source: BFM TV
