The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission reports the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) and other law enforcement agencies in Crimea apply tortures to force detainees to testify.
The publication of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission is based on the report of the Secretary- General on the human rights situation in Russia-occupied Crimea.
In particular, FSB officers reportedly use beatings, electric shocks and suffocation. ‘The level of impunity was such that, in some cases, Russian FSB officers ill-treated victims in front of their state- appointed lawyers’, the UN Monitoring Mission says.
The Report of the Secretary-General highlights that arbitrary arrests frequently precede torture and ill- treatment. Detainees have limited contact with the outside world.
No perpetrators have been held accountable in any of the cases of torture and ill-treatment documented in Crimea by the Mission. The local courts either entirely ignored victims’ torture and ill- treatment complaints or ordered investigations, which were carried out in a pro-forma fashion and resulted in no charges. In the documented cases, upon admission to the Simferopol SIZO or a temporary detention centre, the victims were typically denied the possibility of being examined by medical personnel and have their injuries documented.
In the conclusion, the Secretary-General urges Russia to bring those responsible to liability and ensure prompt and effective investigation of all allegations of ill-treatment, torture and mass arbitrary arrests and detentions in Crimea. It is emphasised that the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment is absolute, without exception.
