“85% of men will pass through this detention centre”: analysis of the testimonies of those detained in the district police department during the occupation of Kupiansk

The purpose of this report is a detailed study of the illegal detention of civilians in the temporary detention centre of the Kupiansk district police department.

The document singles out the categories of persons who were subjected to illegal detention, analyzes the circumstances and grounds of such detention, the conditions of stay in the illegal place of detention, as well as serious violations of international humanitarian law committed against the victims, in particular torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The study also analyzes the consequences of illegal detention for the physical and mental health of victims. The report contains a number of recommendations for investigating and bringing perpetrators to justice.

The analysis was carried out on the basis of testimonies collected by the method of in-depth interviews with victims detained between April 22 and September 8, 2022 (29), relatives and witnesses (1) during the field missions of Human Rights Centre ZMINA.

The report was created within the framework of the project “Resilient Civil Society and Media Respond to the Ukraine War” and is executed with the financial support of the European Union. The content and opinions expressed in this document are the responsibility of the authors and may not reflect the position of the European Union.

The report is available in English and Ukrainian.