ГОЛОСИ / VOICES — rally in support of civilian prisoners
On August 30th, on the International Day of the Disappeared, the Center for Civil Liberties invites you to a rally near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv in support of civilian prisoners. The event will be held under the title “ГОЛОСИ / VOICES.”
“We were simply kidnapped right from our parents’ house,” “everything irritated them, even the fact that you would respond to their questions, especially when you spoke the Ukrainian language,” “once, when they hit me on the head, they smeared that wound with PVA glue,” “threats and psychological pressure with words like ‘we will burn you alive.’”
These are not just terrifying artistic expressions or fragments from a horror movie. These words are memories of real people who experienced Russian captivity. The words of those who were taken from their own homes or right from the street. Civilian prisoners.
These are the voices of those who managed to survive and escape. And thousands of others are currently being forcibly held by Russia.
Within the rally, the following will take place:
- A meeting with the relatives of civilians held by Russia.
- A performance by the Actors For Future team, where actors will show the conditions in which civilians are being held.
- Presentation of a brochure containing 50 stories of civilian prisoners, created as part of the PrisonersVoice initiative.
Rally details:
- Date: August 30
- Time: 5:00 PM
- Location: St. Michael’s (Mykhailivska) square
Speakers:
- Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties
- Mykhailo Savva, Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor, Member of the Expert Council of the Center for Civil Liberties
- Relatives and friends of civilian prisoners
We demand the release of civilian hostages — WITHOUT CONDITIONS AND NEGOTIATIONS!
For Media: Accreditation https://bit.ly/Accreditation_CCL If you are interested in the topic and stories of civilian prisoners and require expert comments, please contact the communications manager of the Center for Civil Liberties: Anna Trushova — anna.trushova@ccl.org.ua +380980883622 (Telegram, WhatsApp).
Reference:
- The Center for Civil Liberties is aware of over 150 penitentiary institutions in Russia and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, where civilian citizens who were kidnapped during the occupation from their homes, on their way to the store, or from their workplace are being unlawfully detained.
- Thousands of civilians are currently held by Russia: they are tortured, subjected to starvation, psychological pressure, and placed in an information vacuum; innocent people are morally and physically abused.
- The abduction of Ukrainian patriots in the occupied territories, as well as blatant human rights violations, has become a common strategy for the Russian Federation, and the practice of forced disappearances has become one of the widespread methods of intimidating citizens of the occupied territories.
