Human rights event for the Empty Chairs Day was held in Kyiv
The Empty Chairs event was held in Kyiv on November 15 in support of journalists, writers, human rights and cultural activists who went missing, illegally imprisoned or captivated in the course of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The human rights event was held on the Sophiiska Square in Kyiv by PEN Ukraine and the Center for Civil Liberties. A symbolic installation of empty chairs with the names of imprisoned, captivated and missing authors, artists, human rights and media activists who are not able to be with us due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine lasting since 2014 was set up during the action. The chairs were partly filled with the plaques ‘Name Unknown’ because many names of imprisoned, captivated and missing Ukrainians remain unidentified.
The event was held with the participation of writers, journalists, and missing, imprisoned or captivated authors’ relatives, friends and colleagues, namely Maryna Aleksandrovych, wife of poet and graphic designer Mykola Leonovych who went missing in April 2023 while performing a combat mission near Avdiivka; Ivan Andrusiak, writer, poet, translator, friend of poet Borys Humeniuk who went missing in action near Klishchiivka in December 2022; Oleksandra Barkova, sister of Bohdan Ziza, Crimean artist illegally sentenced to 15 years in prison in June 2023 by the Russian occupation authorities; Oksana Mykhalevych, defendant of journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, abducted by the Russian military in March 2022 in the village of Kozarovychi near Kyiv; Oksana Stomina, poet and civic activist from Mariupol. Oksana’s husband Drmytro Paskalov, who was among the defenders of the Azovstal steel plant, has been remaining in Russian captivity since May 2022; Olena Tsyhipa, wife of Serhii Tsyhipa, writer and journalist from Nova Kakhovka sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony by the so-called ‘supreme court of the republic of Crimea’.
“People whose names are written on the chairs could have done so many beautiful things for Ukraine. I still believe they will have such a chance, but Russia wants to deprive us of that,” said Maryna Aleksandrovych. The woman told the story of her husband Mykola Leonovych, writer, book designer and illustrator who is considered missing now. “He was raised and cherished in Ukrainian culture, and he knew what he was doing when he felt compelled to take up arms and defend this culture. This was the culture that helped him develop into a creative and responsible man,” she added. Maryna also stressed that it was of utmost importance for the families of all missing persons, POWs and civilian prisoners to appeal to international organizations like ICRC and the governments of the foreign countries which have adopted the Geneva Conventions so that those could enforce international humanitarian law in Russia.
The ex-illegally imprisoned journalists and human rights activists Liudmyla Huseinova and Nariman Celal also joined the event. Their names were installed on the chairs during the same action in the past years; this year, they were finally able to take their seats themselves. This symbolizes hope for the return of those who remain in the aggressor’s captivity.
“Every captive or political prisoner has their own view from the window. Sometimes, though, they never have windows in their cell. Prisoners are held in basements without the ability to hear the outside world’s sounds or breathe fresh air at least once in a while. Once you are imprisoned, your life’s focus becomes very narrow. Guards in prison isolate you from any truthful information,” said Nariman Celal .“Yet sometimes our wish to pass a word to our dear one becomes strong enough to break even the thick walls of Russian prisons and torture camps. This is a beyond important work to do. Any news that you are remembered and reminded of worldwide is a thin thread of light for you to hold on. This helps and leads you towards being released. I want us to be united and helpful to everyone who needs us. Events like Empty Chairs are not only held in support of prisoners and their families. This is also a test for our society. This is a reminder that the war we are waging for our freedom preserves empathetic, caring and persevering humans in us,” he added in conclusion.
Oksana Mykhalevych, defendant of parents of the Russian-abducted journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, told his story. “Dmytro was abducted together with his father near their house in the village of Kozarovychi, Kyiv region. They were held in inhumane conditions, forced to sleep on the floor and cover with paper. They were never fed. Several weeks afterwards Dmytro’s father was released and told that Dmytro would only be free after the occupiers’ “victory” which they were perfectly sure of. Later, Dmytro was taken to Belarus and then to Russia. He is constantly relocated, so no one knows anything of his whereabouts. The Russian defense ministry has already confirmed Dmytro’s detention, so we try our best to release him,” she said.
Actor Roman Yasinovskyi recited the poem Pain Is My Skin by Julia Musakovska. The poem was written within the campaign ‘Hold On! – I Do’. This is the joint project of the Center for Civil Liberties and Kateryna Osadcha Foundation; it was developed to draw more attention to the fates of Ukrainians who ended up in Russian imprisonment.
The event was moderated by Tetyana Teren, executive director of PEN Ukraine, and Nataliia Yashchuk, senior manager for reversing the effects of the war with the Center for Civil Liberties. The attendants of the event honored the Ukrainians whose lives were taken away by Russia’s war against Ukraine with the minute of silence.
We shall remind that, according to the data from the Institute of Mass Information, no less than 30 civilian Ukrainian media workers and 2 combatant journalists remain in the Russian imprisonment now. It is known about 15 cases of Crimean journalists and civic journalists sentenced by occupation courts to different terms in prison. Mostly they are Crimean Tatars. These are cases of Server Mustafaiev, Ernes Ametov, Asan Ahtemov, Tymur Ibragimov, Marlen Asanov, Seyran Saliev, Remzi Bekirov, Ruslan Suleymanov, Osman Arifmemetov, Rustem Sheikhaliev, Amet Suleymanov, Iryna Danylovych, Vladyslav Yesypenko, Oleksii Bessarabov, and Vilen Temeryanov.
According to the data from the Centre for Civil Liberties, over 7,000 civilians are now illegally kept imprisoned in Russia and on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The real figures, though, can be many times greater. Meanwhile, as of November 2024, the Register of Persons Missing under Special Circumstances contains information about almost 54,000 people.
According to the data from the President of Ukraine, only 1700 civilian citizens of Ukraine have been confirmed by the ICRC and by other means (responses from the Russian defense ministry) as prisoners. The fate of other POWs and civilian captives becomes known only after the liberation of Ukrainian POWs and illegally imprisoned civilian Ukrainians.
The organizers called for the attendants to become the voices of those who are being kept in prison and captivity by supporting human rights organizations’ information and advocacy campaigns, spreading the word about the violation of rights of POWs and illegally imprisoned civilians, writing letters to the victims of Russian unjust courts etc.
By the initiative of PEN International, since the late 1980’s, November 15 has been recognized as the Day of the Imprisoned Writer or the Empty Chair Day. The empty chairs at human rights actions on this day became a symbol of the authors who can’t be with us due to imprisonment, persecution, disappearance or murder
In 2024, it was the fifth time that PEN Ukraine and Center for Civil Liberties held the Empty Chairs human rights event.
The event took place with informational support from: Ukrainska Pravda, hromadske, Radio Liberty, The Ukrainians Media, PR Army.Event partners: Institute of Mass Information, ZMINA Human Rights Center, Representative Office of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, UHHRU, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, NGO “War Archive“.
