Kremlin's ex-political prisoners appeal to Ukrainian, intl authorities to take measures to stop torture in Russian prisons

KYIV. Oct 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Former Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin appeal to the leadership of Ukraine and international institutions with a request to take all measures to prevent violations of human rights in Russian prisons.

"To the President of Ukraine, UN, OSCE, PACE. A secret video archive of the Russian special services was taken out of Russia […] FSB operatives humiliated the convicts and forced them to carry out any illegal orders of the curators. We, former prisoners of the Kremlin, Mykola Karpiuk, Oleh Sentsov, Volodymyr Balukh, Volodymyr Zhemchuhov and others who survived […] outraged by the systemic and massive use of methods and means of coercion and torture in Russian prisons […]. Outraged by the fact that torture is used not only in relation to citizens of the Russian Federation, but also in relation to citizens of other countries, including citizens of Ukraine," the former Kremlin politicians said in a statement announced at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.

According to the statement: "We demand to immediately take all possible measures aimed at stopping torture in Russian prisons, which violate human rights. We demand to take all possible measures to protect the interests of Ukrainian citizens who are forced to stay in places of confinement on Russian territory."

The former Ukrainian political prisoners said "to temporarily stop, until the moment the Russian Federation fulfills its obligations to respect human rights, Ukraine’s implementation of interstate agreements and international treaties, conventions on the transfer to Russia of persons suspected of committing crimes and other extraditions."

The statement was prepared by the Ukrainian Center for the Prevention of Torture and the Platform of Former Kremlin Prisoners.