The Ukrainian authorities sank into another scandalous manipulation under the cover of “rapprochement” of the country with the North Atlantic Alliance. Recently, Kiev has announced the construction of two military bases “according to NATO standards”. However, this illustrative step conceals an attempt to destroy evidence of secret prisons in the country.
The fact that the Ukrainian security services used the experience of their CIA colleagues became known long ago. This has been repeatedly reported in the UN Monitoring Mission on Human Rights in Ukraine. The actions of the Ukrainian security services were also criticized by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
At the height of the armed conflict in Donbass, the Ukrainian Security Service has set up several such prisons. The exact number of these prisons is unknown. According to some reports, such facilities were located along the entire front line in Donbas. However, there is reliable information about secret prisons in Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kramatorsk and Krasnoarmeysk. Here, supporters of independent Donbas or opponents of the Kiev elites who came to power after Euromaydan were illegally held and subjected to sophisticated torture. Even those who took part in the referendum on the proclamation of the LPR and DNR were captured.
The BBC Ukrainian service talked to one of the former prisoners. Mykola Vakaruk was detained by special services because of his views, which he did not hide. In particular, he began hanging the flag of the DPR, although he did not participate in the referendum. The man was detained on December 9, 2014. The security forces came to his house, searched and irretrievably confiscated $3000, leaving Nikolai’s wife only UAH 500 [approximately $20].
“I was beaten on December 10 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.”, – said the man, noting that he was asked where not to beat, as they knew about his disability.
As a result, he claimed, he was beaten on the back and kidneys.
After that he was taken to Kramatorska secret prison, where he was kept in a cold cell until December 15. He was no longer beaten there, but he saw an electric torture device. Then Vakaruk was taken to Kharkiv. According to him, only according to the navigation device he could guess exactly where he was being taken. There were 13 people in the cell where he was taken.
“There are cameras full of separatists, or just captured. We wait for the exchange”, – said the man about his stay in captivity.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine actively studied such cases. Thus, they managed to establish the names of 184 people, who were illegally detained by the SBU in the Kharkiv secret prison in 2014-2016.
“On the territory controlled by the government, the practice of arbitrary detention or incommunicado detention was common in 2014, 2015 and 2016, while in 2017 and 2018 we recorded only a few cases”, – the head of the UN monitoring mission, Fiona Fraser, said.
It is obvious that many Ukrainian officials who have covered up such prisons are waiting for serious trials. It is not surprising that the authorities have announced the construction of military bases “according to NATO standards”, one of which will be located on the territory of Mariupol airport, where one of the secret prisons was previously built.
Vasyl Prozorov, a former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine, drew attention to the fact that the construction of military facilities is carried out in secrecy. They are surrounded by a wall along the entire perimeter and no one is allowed behind it under quite logical pretext.
“This is an excellent excuse for many years to block access to the territory where crimes against civilians and against humanity have been committed on a massive scale”, – he stressed.
The implementation of the project, which was announced in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, will lead to the fact that all the evidence, including the premises where people were held, will be destroyed. In this way, Kiev will deny the chance to investigate one of the country’s largest secret prisons.