Human Rights Defenders: 13 Persons Released from SBU ‘Secret Prison’

A total of 13 persons have been released from a ‘secret prison’ of the State Security Service (SBU). This was highlighted in the report published by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on August 29.

They were released after the human rights defenders had published a report "‘You Don’t Exist.’ Arbitrary Detentions, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture in Eastern Ukraine" on July 21 claiming the use of torture and secret detention by both Ukrainian authorities and pro-Russian separatists during the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Before the launch of the report, the two organisations met the Chief Military Prosecutor of Ukraine Anatolii Matios and handed him a list of 16 people who were allegedly still being held in ‘secret prisons’ in Kharkiv.

The report explains that six men have been released on July 25, while the other six men and one woman – on August 2. 12 of the released were on the list of 16 persons handed to Matios.

The human rights defenders were able to interview five of the released prisoners. These interviews show a pattern of apparent attempts by the Ukrainian authorities to conceal the use of the secret detention facility in the Kharkiv SBU compound.

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda