Russia Using Terrorist Methods Against Crimean Tatars, Human Rights Defender Says
Russia continues to repress Crimean Tatars in the annexed Crimea. About 300 members of the indigenous people are imprisoned on trumped-up charges. Russian security forces are abducting and torturing people in an attempt to coerce them into cooperation and suppressing any dissent, said Oleksandra Romantsova, executive director of the Centre for Civil Liberties.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to the broadcast of the FREEDOM TV channel.
According to her, the work on the release of Crimean Tatars from Russian captivity - both civilian and political prisoners - is difficult. However, it is ongoing. Turkey remains an active mediator in the release of prisoners.
"The release of Crimean Tatars from captivity is a really difficult process because it is political. There are certain things that Ukraine has done to make the Crimean Tatars the subject of the Turkish president's first interest. Since 2014, more than 300 people are still in Russian prisons, all of them Muslims," the speaker said.
In 2024, at least 56 Crimeans were persecuted by the Russian authorities. This data was provided by the human rights organisation CrimeaSOS.
"In Crimea, Russia acts as a terrorist organisation. Ukraine is thinking about strategies and models for releasing our people from captivity. We think that we need to have more Russian prisoners for exchange. But the fact is that the Russian Federation is not interested in its own people. If we talk about the Crimean Tatars, we need to understand that Russia has a very strategic interest here. The Crimean Tatars are a well-organised group of people with a historical experience of peaceful struggle, in particular for the return to the territory of Crimea," Romantsova said.
She emphasised that Crimean Tatars have a pro-Ukrainian position. They want the de-occupation of Crimea and are ready to fight for it.
As The Gaze reported earlier, a U.S. proposal to recognise Russia's annexation of Crimea has been met with strong opposition from global leaders, who reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty and international law.