Victims of the occupation in Crimea: 10 years since the first murder
10 years ago, on March 15, 2014, the body of Crimean Tatar activist Reshat Ametov, murdered by the occupiers, was found in Crimea — he became the first victim of Russia’s occupation of Crimea.
On March 3, 2014, the activist held a single picket in the central square of Simferopol to protest against the occupation and was detained by the so-called “Crimean self-defence” in the presence of Russian military personnel.
On March 15, 2014, the body of the murdered Reshat Ametov was found in the Zemlianychne village, Bilohirsk region of Crimea. The body had signs of numerous torture, his head was tied with tape, his eyes were gouged out, and handcuffs were lying next to the body.
The death of Reshat Ametov is a crime against humanity and a war crime, which consists in premeditated murder. However, the criminals have not yet been punished, as the “investigation” is allegedly being conducted by the occupation administrations. Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have no access to either the case file or the crime scene.
Abductions and murders are a common practice among the occupiers. The occupation administrations persecute civilians because of their political views, ethnicity or religion. Since the beginning of the occupation of the peninsula, Crimean Tatars, including civilian journalists and activists, have been the most oppressed in Crimea. The latest detentions of Crimean Tatars in several settlements of the occupied Crimea took place less than a week ago.
Human rights organisations have also recorded numerous cases of torture of civilians and Crimean political prisoners. Some of them were tortured after their arrest, and were abused during their transfer to court hearings or new places of detention.
In addition to torture, Crimean political prisoners also suffer from mistreatment, including the denial of proper medical care. Currently, there are about 50 people who do not receive proper medical care. Some of them had serious chronic illnesses before their imprisonment, some fell ill after their arrest, and some suffered physical and mental health problems as a result of torture and mistreatment.
Prison and detention center staff prohibit prisoners from receiving parcels with medicines, ignore their complaints about their deteriorating health, and intentionally refuse to provide medical care.
Because of that, in February 2023, two Crimean political prisoners died in the Russian colonies of Novotroitsk and Novocherkask: Ukrainian Kostiantyn Shyring and Crimean Tatar Dzhemil Hafarov, both of whom were illegally sentenced by Russia to 12 and 13 years in a strict regime colony. Both had heart problems and were in urgent need of medical treatment, but both were systematically denied, which led to their deaths.