Rustem Osmanov, a citizen of Ukraine, convicted in the temporarily occupied Crimea, is constantly held in the punitive segregation unit, beaten, threatened to be murdered and left without medical aid.
Mr. Osmanov was detained on April 15, 2022, at his residence place in the settlement of Kalanchak, Kherson Region. Armed men burst into his house, handcuffed him, put a sack on his head, and placed in the 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 the sentence Mr. Osmanov was transferred to the 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, but the only response of administration on the relevant statement of the injured was threats. In addition, he is forbidden to receive letters and parcels from relatives.
Since July 2024, Rustem Osmanov has been held in the punitive segregation unit non-stop. Due to staying in the 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 delivered Mr. Osmanov any medical care, putting pressure on him at the same time to take Russian citizenship and join the Russian army to fight against Ukraine.
The authorities of the Russian Federation and the bodies of its occupation administration in Crimea and in 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, was subjected to torture, inhumane treatment and unlawful incarceration, and was deprived of the right to a fair trial.
We, representatives of human rights organizations, condemn criminal actions of Russian authorities, and demand:
- to release Rustem Osmanov, a Ukrainian citizen, immediately;
- to stop persecuting Ukrainian citizens for disagreement with occupation and expression of their view;
- to stop immediately enforcement of the Russian criminal laws in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine;
- to release immediately all civilians incarcerated for political reasons and held in the places of unfreedom in the territory of the AR of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, in other occupied territories of Ukraine or in the territory of the Russian Federation.
We urge the competent Ukrainian governmental bodies:
- to investigate effectively the conditions of torturing, unlawful incarceration and deprival 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 tortures, unlawful incarceration and deprival of the right to a fair and official trial of Mr. Rustem Osmanov, a Ukrainian citizen;
- to investigate effectively facts of unlawful deprival of freedom and other gross violations of basic human rights by the Russian Federation in relation to Ukrainian citizens who have fallen under the 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 an immediate release of Rustem Osmanov;
- to introduce personal sanctions against persons involved in tortures, unlawful incarceration and deprival 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 in order 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 in order 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 AR 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
ZMINA Center for Human Rights
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
