Spy mania and enforced disappearances in Crimea: Tetiana Pechonchyk spoke at the forum about 11 years of resistance to occupation

On 26 February, Kyiv hosted the forum “11 Years of War. Starting Point: Crimea”, dedicated to the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of the Peninsula. The event was organised by the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the Office of the Crimean Platform and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

The forum was attended by Crimean residents, representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, foreign and Ukrainian politicians, diplomats, military officers, human rights defenders, activists, journalists, including the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Mishchenko, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov, and the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Olha Kuryshko.

Crimea continues to fight and is not silent

Opening the event, Olha Kuryshko emphasised that Crimea remains a symbol of unity and freedom, and its residents continue to resist despite the repression of the occupation administration. She recalled the events of 26 February 2014, when thousands of Crimeans rallied in Simferopol to defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Kuryshko stressed that the occupiers must be held accountable for their crimes, and that sanctions pressure, political and military support for Ukraine, as well as decisions of international courts are crucial steps towards victory.

Olha Kuryshko

Russia turned Crimea into a land of terror

During the panel discussion “Resistance to Occupation: What Does It Look Like?”, Tetiana Pechonchyk, Head of the Board of the Human Rights Centre ZMINA, stated that since 2022, the human rights situation on the peninsula has deteriorated significantly.

“The regime of terror against the local population has intensified, and the level of freedoms in Crimea has dropped to 2 points out of 100, the same as in North Korea and Eritrea,” she said, referring to Freedom House’s assessment.

According to her, the practice of enforced disappearances, which has become a daily reality, is of particular concern. At least 14 Crimeans have gone missing, including eight women. However, the largest number of people were abducted in the occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and transferred to Crimea, where they are held incommunicado in detention centres, including Simferopol’s SIZO No. 2, the so-called “Dviika”.

Tetiana Pechonchyk

The human rights defender reported that over 150 names of volunteers, journalists, activists, local community leaders, and simply patriotically-minded citizens have been identified, who were imprisoned in Simferopol’s SIZO-2 without charges, without any terms of detention, and without any contact with their families or lawyers.

“Criminal cases were fabricated against some of them, however, according to the human rights initiative “Crimea. Search”, at least 105 people have been held in captivity for three years without any charges, such as the mayor of Hola Prystan, Oleksandr Babych,” Tetiana said.

According to Pechonchyk, another trend in recent years in Crimea is “spy mania”. Since the full-scale invasion, 52 cases of espionage and treason have been considered or are being considered in Crimean courts alone, while there were only seven such cases during the entire period of occupation before the invasion.

The conditions of detention of prisoners remain inhumane, and more than 60 Crimean political prisoners need urgent medical care.

Tetiana Pechonchyk also noted that in Crimea, there is a strict system of punishment for any manifestations of disloyalty to the occupiers.

Forum “11 Years of War. Starting Point: Crimea” once again confirmed that the struggle for the freedom of Crimea continues, and the international community must increase pressure on the aggressor to restore justice and protect the rights of people who remain under occupation.

Photo: Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea