Human rights activists: 21 Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin need urgent medical care

On 14 August, during a press conference in Kiev, human rights activists called on the Russian Federation and the occupation authorities to immediately provide assistance to Ukrainian citizens. And provided a list of political prisoners who need treatment.

Human rights activists call this list the list of Gafarov-Shiring, who died in Russian prisons in February this year.

It includes: Teymur Abdullayev, Arsen Abkhairov, Servet Gaziyev, Irina Danilovich, Nariman Dzhelyal, Vladimir Dudka, Azamat Eyupov, Timur Ibragimov, Igor Kiyashko, Emir-Usein Kuku, Khalil Mambetov, Rustem Murasov, Zekirya Muratov, Ruslan Nagaev, Enver Omerov, Oleg Prikhodko, Amet Suleymanov, Shaban Umerov, Rustem Sheikhaliyev, Yashar Shikhametov, Ivan Yatskin.

The head of projects at the ZMINA Human Rights Centre, Viktoriya Nesterenko, says that Russia does not provide Crimean political prisoners with access to medical care. This leads to Ukrainians dying due to deteriorating health conditions:

Konstantin Shiring and Dzhemil Gafarov had severe chronic diseases, and they were refused medical care in the places of detention where they were held. Therefore, we decided to analyse which political prisoners of the Kremlin also have health problems and need immediate medical assistance. These are 21 people. We call on the occupation authorities of Crimea and officials of the Russian Federation to stop persecution of Crimean political prisoners and immediately provide medical assistance to those who need it.

The chairman of the Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin, Igor Kotelanets, said that poor nutrition, being in damp and half-lit cells and psychological overstrain of prisoners, leads to the fact that almost all prisoners have diseased teeth, improper functioning of the digestive system, hypertension, visual impairment and joint pain:

Mature-aged people such as Vladimir Dudka, Zekirya Muratov and Oleg Prikhodko, who risk never being released due to the large number of chronic diseases they had even before their imprisonment, are particularly affected. The Russian Federation continues to flagrantly violate international humanitarian law, which equates failure to provide medical care with torture.

Crimean human rights activist and journalist Lutfiye Zudiyeva tells about Azamat Eyupov, 60, from Belogorsk, who suffered 4 ischaemic strokes in the Russian detention centre and his life is in danger. amet Suleymanov, 38, from Bakhchisarai, needs a heart valve replacement and is constantly suffocating, despite this, the occupiers have imprisoned the man:

Staying in the pre-trial detention centre for Amet is tantamount to torture. Also 58-year-old Vladimir Dudka from Sevastopol suffers from stomach disease and hypertension. The court sentenced him to 14 years in prison. They don't have the time and energy for a bureaucratic fight with the Russian penitentiary system. We cannot leave them alone with this, they should not die slowly in prison. The release of all political prisoners remains the top priority for human rights defenders.

Iryna Sedova, an expert of the Crimean Human Rights Group, is convinced that the Ukrainian authorities should keep this situation in focus and voiced recommendations regarding the actions of the authorities in this direction:

• Conduct thorough investigations of such crimes, do everything possible to bring the perpetrators to justice and facilitate their inclusion in international sanctions lists;
• Create a separate department, whose representatives will deal with the release of civilian hostages from captivity;
• Develop a state programme of physical and psychological rehabilitation for those patients who managed to be released from Russian captivity, as well as for their families;
• To allocate sufficient funds in the state budget for 2024 to support hostages and their families.

Earlier, Socialportal reported that Russia was violating international humanitarian law by illegally escorting Crimean political prisoners to its territory.