“Torture With Time”: On June 25th, NGO CrimeaSOS Will Hold a Demonstration in Support of Victims of Forced Disappearances in Crimea

June 26th is the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. This is why our demonstration this month is dedicated to victims of torture, as quite a few victims of forced disappearances in Crimea went through tortures. 

For instance, the Crimean Tatar activist Reshat Ametov, the first victim of forced disappearances in Crimea, was killed after inhumane tortures. As we informed before, Ametov was kidnapped on March 3rd, 2014. That day he participated in a single-person protest against the Russian occupation of Crimea. His body was found on March 5th, 2014. It had signs of torture. 

We also believe that families of victims of forced disappearances in Crimea also undergo tortures because they have no information about the fate of their family members. Their pain is not physical but moral. For many years those people live without answers. They do not know where their relatives are, whether they are alive and what happened to them. Lack of answers, disregard, and indifference from the occupying authorities gives pain to relatives of victims of forced disappearances.  

On June 25th, our performance near the Russian Embassy will show how the lack of information traumatizes the relatives of victims of forced disappearances and how this pain can be relieved. 

Our demonstration aims to remind the Ukrainian society about the victims of forced disappearances in Crimea and about the sufferings that their relatives undergo due to the actions of Russian authorities. 

As we informed earlier, since 2014, there were 44 victims of forced disappearances in occupied Crimea. Nineteen of those people were found alive. Three appeared in places of detention. One of them has been deported. Six were found dead. The fate of 15 people remains unknown.