A group of Ukrainian human rights activists detained by Russia’s FSB security service just inside Russian-occupied Crimea have been freed, according to Bohdan Kryklyvenko, the head of the Office of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. Kryklyvenko posted the news on Facebook on March 13.
The detained Ukrainians were the head of a Crimean human rights group, Olha Skrypnyk, human rights activist Volodymyr Chekryhin and an unnamed representative of the Ukrainian human rights ombudsman.
The three were detained by the FSB on March 13 in the buffer zone between mainland Ukraine and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory of Crimea, Kryklyvenko said.
“It’s all over. All three of them are already at the Kalanchak border checkpoint – that’s a checkpoint under Ukrainian control. Thanks to all those who were concerned,” he said.
According to Russian information agency Krym Inform, the human rights activists entered the buffer zone to “shoot photos and video in the area of the Russian border checkpoint.”
However, the video materials that the group provided to the FSB’s Crimean Border Service, Krym Inform said, indicated another offense — violation of the state boundaries of Russia, punishable with a fine of 5,000 Russian rubles.
Oleh Slobodyan, press secretary of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, told Krym.Realii that the human rights activists had passed through the Kalanchak checkpoint legally.
“We aren’t in contact with the occupant on the occupied peninsula, so we don’t know what happened at their checkpoint. These people crossed the (Kalanchak) administrative boundary legally.”
Mykhailo Chaplyha, a representative of the ombudsman detained, confirmed the detention to Crimea news portal Krym.Realii, but did not disclose the person’s name.
“It was an ordinary inspection of the checkpoint and how human rights are observed there, with regards to standards,” Chaplyha explained, “But they were to inspect the checkpoint on the Ukrainian side – how they ended up (in the buffer zone) is difficult to say,” he said.
Since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, concerns have been raised by international human rights organizations over Russian violation of human rights on the peninsula.
According to NGO Crimea SOS, there are 279 documented cases of human rights abuses, including disappearances, unlawful detention and ill-treatment of activists, journalists and other individuals who hold pro-Ukrainian views.
However, many international organizations believe the actual number of violations to be much higher due to fears of persecution.
The European Parliament is expected to hold debates on Crimea on March 16.
Members of the parliament will consider the issue of Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia and the situation in Crimea, according to the agenda of the European Parliament plenary week of March 13-16.
