The UN says 15 journalists and activists, and 22 local officials in Ukraine have been arbitrarily detained or faced “enforced disappearance.”
The United Nations said Friday that since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, dozens of people including local Ukrainian officials, journalists and “civil society activists” who opposed to the invasion have been arbitrarily detained or faced “enforced disappearance.” The UN says it has documented 15 of such cases for journalists and activists, and 22 for local officials, news that comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on and Russia has faced accusations of committing war crimes and targeting civilians. Speaking to members of the media via a video call from Western Ukraine, Matilda Bogner, who heads the UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said the detainments and enforced disappearances “seem to be a pattern that is occurring in areas that are occupied by the Russian Federation.
