CrimeaSOS: at least 66 people in Crimea have become victims of enforced disappearances
8 / 01 / 2025
CrimeaSOS has recorded at least 66 victims of enforced disappearances in Crimea since the beginning of the russian occupation. The fate of 21 of them still remains unknown, 6 were found dead, 1 person was extradited abroad, 7 were charged with a crime, and 31 people were released within a few days. This was reported by CrimeaSOS analyst Yevhenii Yaroshenko.
According to the above statistics, Yevhenii Yaroshenko outlined four waves of enforced disappearances on the occupied peninsula. According to him, the first wave occurred during the formation of the occupation authorities in Crimea in March-May 2014.
“During that period, at least 25 pro-Ukrainian activists became victims of enforced disappearances. In particular, Reshat Ametov went on a solo picket in Simferopol, and 12 days later was found dead with numerous torture traces. In addition, members of the “Crimean self-defence forces” unjustifiably detained the leaders of the Ukrainian community of Crimea, Andrii Shchekun and Anatolii Kovalskyi, for 11 days, and the fate and whereabouts of 5 pro-Ukrainian activists, including Valerii Vashchuk, Ivan Bondarets, Vasyl Chernysh, Tymur Shaimardanov, and Seiran Zinedinov, are still unknown”, –the analyst said.
The second wave of enforced disappearances occurred in the fall of 2014. At that time, the victims of enforced disappearances were mostly Crimean Tatars, in particular, the fate and whereabouts of the son and nephew of human rights activist and veteran of the Crimean Tatar national movement Abdureshyt Dzhepparov have been unknown for over 10 years.
The third wave lasted from August 2015 to May 2016 and affected the Crimean Tatar population more. Thus, since May 24, 2016, nothing has been known about the fate of the abducted well-known activist of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Ervin Ibrahimov.
The fourth wave began with the full-scale invasion of the russian federation into the territory of Ukraine. The occupation forces began mass abductions of people in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Dozens of them were later placed in detention centres in Crimea, in particular, Iryna Horobtsova, Oleksii Kyseliov, Ruslan Abdurakhmanov, and Rustem Osmanov.
“During that period, russian security forces returned to the widespread practice of abducting people at the entrance to Crimea and directly on the peninsula. In particular, according to available information, the fate of 6 people is still unknown, most of whom were detained by russian security forces after searches. There were cases when people were released a few hours after arbitrary detention or after serving administrative arrest on dubious charges. Someone was formally charged after prolonged arbitrary detention. Many people have also become victims of enforced disappearances due to their open or fabricated pro-Ukrainian views”, – Yevhenii Yaroshenko added.
We would like to remind that the latest victim of enforced disappearances was the editor-in-chief of the Crimean Tatar children’s magazine “Armanchyk” Ediie Muslimova, who was abducted on November 21, 2024. When the situation became public, the woman was released.
Despite the fact that the russian federation is not a State Party to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, as a party to an international armed conflict, it is subject to the prohibition of enforced disappearance under customary international humanitarian law (rule 98) and a number of provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.