Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy websites] released statements [AI statement; HRW statement] Monday condemning Ukraine’s use of secret facilities to detain individuals. The two groups released a joint report [report] earlier this summer detailing the use of torture in these secret detentions by both the Ukrainian government and the Russia-backed separatists. Since the release of the report, 13 individuals have been released, but the rights groups estimate that five more individuals remain incarcerated and subject to inhumane treatment and have written a letter to the Chief Military Prosecutor urging him to release [letter] the remaining prisoners.

Russia and Ukraine have been in conflict since the annexation of Crimea [JURIST backgrounder] in March 2014. In July AI and HRW released the 56-page report detailing how Ukrainian government officials and Russia-backed separatists in the Ukraine have subjected citizen to “prolonged, arbitrary detention,” torture, or other forms of inhumane treatment, including refusing necessary medical attention [JURIST report]. In June the UN human rights office reported that the human rights situation in Ukraine remains troublesome [JURIST report] following two years of conflict with Russia. In February Russia filed suit [JURIST report] against Ukraine over Ukraine’s default on $3 billion in bonds. A Ukrainian official said in January that the nation plans to sue Russia [JURIST report] in the International Court of Justice on claims of financing terrorism. Last August a Russian military court sentenced [JURIST report] two Ukrainian activists to substantial jail time for the charge of conspiring to commit terror attacks. In March of last year the EU committed to stand by its policy of refusing to recognize Crimea’s annexation [JURIST report].