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Since the outbreak of war in eastern Ukraine between government forces and Russian-backed separatists since 2014, prisoners have been subjected to systematic torture. Some abuses allegedly took place in a secret prison in Donețsk called isolation. Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseiev is among those who have suffered horribly. See a report with a strong emotional impact, the brand “Focus Europe” – a project Digi24 and Deutsche Welle. The program airs on Friday at 11:30 p.m. and resumes on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Calea Iluminată street, number 3. meis the address Isolation, in translation – “Isolation”. Once upon a time there was an insulating materials factory. But since the start of the war in 2014, place ar was used by pro-Russian separatists to torture prisoners.
Neither the Red Cross nor other organizations Related they don’t have regular access here. Then rI only keep the testimonies of former prisoners:
“Chief Isolation was drunk again. He went through all the cells: both male and female. He beat everyone, including me,” said journalist Stanislav Aseiev.
A doctor is always present. Not to help, but to torment the detainee
For two years, journalist Stanislav Aseiev covered the Ukrainian press under the cover of the separatist front. Until 2017, when it was exposed and reached Isolation.
“The procedure is the same for everyone: a basement with a metal table in the center. You are naked and tied firmly to the table with duct tape. Then the electrodes are attached. Usually one is attached to the genitals, the second can be inserted into corp – the most barbarous variant. We all heard the screams and knew from them where the electrodes had been placed on the body “Stanislav Aseiev said.
He is convinced that the reputation and a campaign of his followers saved him from an even more cruel fate. But he was aware of what was happening in jail. Suffering others left its mark. The guards cared little that he could tell the world all this.
One testimony shocked even those accustomed to the horrors of conflict: “A doctor is always present during the torture and participates in it. Give an injection if the circulation blood detain or awaken the prisoner, if unconscious. The doctor does not attend, but participates in the torture “.
Apart from those moments, Stanislav says, the doctor never comes. Only cellmates care for sick and exhausted victims of tortureComplicated.
Journalist Stanislav Aseiev, released from “Isolation” after a prisoner exchange
journalist remember especially your colleague Valery Matiuchenko: “Valeri was beaten right in front of us, then they dragged him into the hall. I heard him scream, I knew he was being electrocuted, it’s not hard to tell. When they took him back to the cell, he had several broken ribs, he was unable to stand or stand. Exceptionally, they allowed him to stay in bed for a whole day. “
Aseiev was transferred from Isolation to an official prison only in the fall of 2019, after more than two years. He was soon found guilty of extremism and espionage in favor of Ukraine. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
A few weeks later, just before New Year’s Eve, he was released as part of a prisoner exchange between the Ukrainian government and the separatists.
His words are confirmed by other ex prisoners. The UN also highlighted the systematic use of “beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence” and said there was “a continuing state of torture and abuse” in the detention unit.
The alleged human rights officer of the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk declined to comment on the allegations and did not respond to our questions.
“The fact that the separatists do not allow the Red Cross and the UN access to the prisons forces them to prove that these statements are false. If they don’t allow access, it means they have something to hide, “says Rachel Denber. officer to Human rights observer.
The wife of a political prisoner: “They thought he was going to die. And that’s when the abuses started. “
Before the coronavirus pandemic, tens of thousands of people traveled the Maiorsk checkpoint between the territory of the government forces and that of the separatists. Today Tatiana, Valeri Matushenko’s wife, cannot go any further.
“I live with the hope that this conflict will end soon and everything will return to normal. That I will get my husband back and my son will be able to hug his father. But nothing will ever be the same as before ”, confesses Tatiana.
Valeri Matushenko was kidnapped in the separatist-controlled area in July 2017. His wife says no I speak Never audience of pro-Ukrainian options. Months to complete he had no news of his fate.
„He was taken directly to Isolation. He was in such bad shape that the other prisoners thought he was going to die. And that’s when the abuse started. They told me that the prisoners were threatened with a pistol to sing the separatist anthem, otherwise they were forced to fight among themselves.Tatiana says.
She knows her husband or The isolation is no longer in the detention unit. His health is still very bad, but the separatists refuse to release him or exchange him for another prisoner. One solution would be pressure from foreign powers, but not prea it felt like this.
„We are in the century XXI and all Europe does is watch in silence. There is no reaction. Europe and international organizations are doing nothing to close these torture chambers. How is that possible? It is creepy!“ – Tatiana Matushenko, wife of a political prisoner, rebels.
AHuman rights activists say similar abuses ayou were engaged from both fields sayin this conflict.
Web edition: Luana Păvălucă
