Statement of human rights organizations on the unlawful incarceration and barbarous detention conditions of Rustem Osmanov

Rustem Osmanov, a citizen of Ukraine, convicted in the temporarily occupied Crimea, is constantly held in a punitively segregated unit, he is beaten, threatened to be murdered and left without medical aid.

Mr. Osmanov was detained on April 15, 2022, at his residence in the Kalanchak settlement, Kherson Region. Armed men burst into his house, handcuffed him, put a sack on his head, and placed him in a truck. By torture and threats to spifflicate him and the family, he was forced to incriminate himself and confess that he had served in the Noman Chelebidzhikhan Ukrainian Battalion. The FSB opened a criminal case against Mr. Osmanov under the Russian Federation Criminal Code Article 208-2 (Organization of an illegal armed unit or service in it as well as participation in an armed conflict or military operations for purposes contrary to the interests of the Russian Federation). The so-called “Belogorsk District Court of Crimea” controlled by the Russian occupation administration of Crimea sentenced Rustem Osmanov to six years in custody. To serve his sentence, Mr. Osmanov was transferred to a penal colony in the city of Donskoy, Tula Region, Russia.

The penal colony administration has been creating unbearable detention conditions for Mr. Osmanov. Once he arrived in the colony, the administration staff and prisoners loyal to them began to threaten Rustem, humiliating and beating him for his Ukrainian citizenship. His ribs were broken due to these beatings and the only response from the administration on the relevant statement of the injured were more threats. In addition, he is forbidden to receive letters and parcels from relatives.

Since July 2024, Rustem Osmanov has been indefinitely held in the punitively segregated unit. Due to staying in a damp and cold cell, Mr. Osmanov feels constantly nauseous and dizzy and has started coughing up blood. Despite this fact, the penal colony administration has not administered any medical care to Mr. Osmanov while at the same time putting pressure on him to accept Russian citizenship and join the Russian army to fight against Ukraine.

The authorities of the Russian Federation and the bodies of its occupational administrations in Crimea and other occupied territories of Ukraine repeatedly violate the norms of international humanitarian law, establish “courts” subordinate to the Russian authorities in the occupied territories and use them for repression against those civilians of Ukraine who are unwelcome to the Russian Federation. Rustem Osmanov, like many other political prisoners, is being subjected to torture, inhumane treatment, unlawful incarceration, and was deprived of the right to a fair trial.

We, the representatives of human rights organizations, condemn the criminal actions of Russian authorities, and demand of these authorities:

–        To release Rustem Osmanov, a Ukrainian citizen, immediately;

–        To stop persecuting Ukrainian citizens for disagreements with the occupation and expression of their personal views;

–        To stop enforcement of the Russian criminal laws in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine;

–        To immediately release all civilians incarcerated for political reasons and held in places of unfreedom in the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, in other occupied territories of Ukraine or within the territory of the Russian Federation.

We urge the competent Ukrainian governmental bodies:

–        To effectively investigate the conditions of torture, unlawful incarceration and the deprivation of the right to a fair and official trial of Mr. Rustem Osmanov, a Ukrainian citizen;

–        To impose personal sanctions on Russian citizens involved in the torture, unlawful incarceration and the deprivation of the right to a fair and official trial of Mr. Rustem Osmanov, a Ukrainian citizen;

–        To effectively investigate facts of the unlawful deprivation of freedom and other gross violations of basic human rights by the Russian Federation in relation to Ukrainian citizens who have fallen under Russian power.

We apply to the governments of foreign States and international organizations, including the International Crimea Platform member countries:

–        To apply to the Russian Federation competent persons demanding the immediate release of Rustem Osmanov;

–        To introduce personal sanctions against persons involved in the torture, unlawful incarceration and the deprivation of the right to a fair and official trial of Mr. Rustem Osmanov;

–        To hold international consultations to find procedures for releasing unlawfully incarcerated persons and monitoring their state of health in the Russian Federation territory;

–        To increase diplomatic, sanction and other types of pressure on the Russian Federation to prevent new gross violations of human rights against citizens of Ukraine who are in the territory of the Russian Federation and the Russia-occupied territories;

–        To support the government of Ukraine in investigating war crimes, crimes against humanity and gross violations of human rights in the occupied Crimea and other occupied territories;

–        To use the International Crimean Platform, the mechanisms of the UN, the Council of Europe, the OSCE and other international organizations to the maximum possible extent to speed up the release of Crimean political prisoners, civilian hostages in the occupied territories, to respond effectively to human rights violations in the occupied Crimea and to promote the de-occupation of all territories of Ukraine;

–        To further expand comprehensive, including military, support for Ukraine with the purpose of de-occupying all territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as a necessary condition for protecting human rights and ending politically motivated persecution of Ukrainian citizens.

Crimean Human Rights Group

DIYA Human Rights Center

Human Rights Centre ZMINA

CrimeaSOS CA

Center for Civil Liberties

ALMENDA Center for Civil Education

Human Rights House CRIMEA CA

Regional Center for Human Rights

Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin

Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union