27th session of the UN Human Rights Council
Agenda item 3
Clustered interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence and the Working Group on arbitrary detention
Intervention by Permanent Representative of Ukraine Ambassador Yurii Klymenko
September 10, 2014
Mr. President,
Thanking distinguished mandate holders for today’s interactive dialogue, I would like to touch upon the pressing issue of abductions and arbitrary detentions of Ukrainian citizens by the illegal armed groups supported by Russia, over 200 cases of which were recorded by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission since April 13, 2014.
The abduction of Ukrainian servicewoman Nadiya Savchenko by the terrorist organization "Luhansk People’s Republic" with subsequent transportation to the territory of the Russian Federation, where she remains detained, appears to be one of the most outrageous among them.
In this situation Russia has been acting as a state which cooperates with terrorists in kidnapping people. Moreover, the Russian Federation has been ignoring the norms and standards of the international law and own national legislation. It is unprecedented that the Ukrainian consul was denied access to Nadiya nine times!
Due to numerous appeals of the Ukrainian leadership, on July 16, 2014, after a month since abduction, the Russian side permitted her to meet with the Ukrainian consular officer, who found out that she had to go on 8-day hunger strike in order to force Russia’s authorities to allow that meeting. We can call it nothing else but holding hostage.
A district court in a Russian town of Voronezh extended the arrest of Ms.Savchenko until the end of this October and decided to transfer her to Moscow for a psychiatric examination.
We insist that Nadiya Savchenko and Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov abducted in Crimea in May and secretly transported to Russia, as well as more than ten other innocent Ukrainian citizens suffering in detention places in Russia, must be released under the relevant provisions of the Protocol of Contact Group’s meeting signed last Friday in Minsk, foreseeing release of all captives and hostages.
In this regard I would seek advice of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on what mechanisms could be additionally used to facilitate liberation of the abovementioned persons arbitrary detained in Russia.
I thank you.