The OSCE is “seriously concerned” about Moscow’s treatment of Ukrainian civilians in “filtration camps” designed to identify suspected links to Ukrainian authorities, according to a report published on Thursday.
“According to witnesses”, this procedure “involves brutal interrogations and humiliating body searches”write the three authors of the 115-page report —to which the AFP news agency had access—, stressing that this situation is “alarming”.
The document, prepared for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, indicates that Ukrainians who withdraw from besieged cities, such as the strategic port of Mariupol, or those who leave territories occupied by Russian troops, are obliged to pass through these centers.
“Your personal data is recorded, your fingerprints are taken and your identity documents are copied,” the report details.
Apparently the goal is determine whether the people fought on the Ukrainian side or if they have links with the Ukrainian Azov military regiment or with the Ukrainian authorities.
“If so, these people become separated from others and often just disappear”say the experts, two of whom traveled to Ukraine in June to complete their work, which is based on various sources.
“Some are transferred” to the Self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk [que só foram reconhecidas por Moscovo]”where they are detained or even killed,” according to the report’s authors.
Those who pass the test “are often sent to Russia”, “with or without their consent”.
According to the report, these people, once in Russia, they are promised free employment and housing. These citizens are certainly free to move, but “often do not have enough information, money or phone numbers” to be able to leave the country, the report notes.
kyiv has been denouncing for several weeks “deportations” that have affected more than a million Ukrainians, while Moscow assures that its only objective is to allow civilians to “leave” “dangerous areas”.
There are “about 20 such structures” to filter, Yevhenii Tsybalium, Ukraine’s ambassador to the OSCE, was quoted as saying in the document.
This is the second OSCE report since the beginning of the conflict under the so-called “Moscow” mechanism, in which Russia refuses to cooperate.
Covering the period from April to June, The entity’s report confirms the finding of “clear rights violations” which may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The OSCE, created in 1975, at the height of the Cold War, to promote East-West dialogue, carried out a similar initiative in 2018 to examine crimes in Chechnya against LGBTIQ+ people or following the allegedly fraudulent elections and repression of the opposition in Chechnya. Belarus in 2020
Source: Observadora
