43 criminal proceedings have been initiated on the facts of sexual crimes committed by the occupiers — Kateryna Pavlichenko
Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Ekaterina Pavlichenko announced this today, October 27, during a briefing at the Military Media Center.
“On a daily basis, Russia commits genocide against the Ukrainian people, carries out terror of civilians, tortures, murders, bombings of civilian infrastructure and destroys cultural heritage. The enemy violates all laws and customs of warfare and commits tens of thousands of war crimes, including crimes against sexual freedom and sexual integrity of the person, or, as they are also called, sexual crimes. Information about such crimes began to appear from the first days of the war, both from appeals to the police and from various activists, human rights defenders, as well as from the media,” said Kateryna Pavlichenko.
According to her, the police carefully check all the information and, if the case was confirmed, documented the war crime and began a criminal investigation.
“So far, 43 criminal proceedings have been initiated on the facts of sex crimes. It should be understood that these are not 43 cases and not 43 victims. In one case there can be several episodes, several victims or even several criminals,” the deputy minister said.
In order to detect and fix sexual crimes, specialized police mobile groups have been created in the de-occupied territories of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kherson regions, which are engaged in documenting such crimes. The groups include police specialists who have previously detected and documented cases of domestic violence, juvenile police officers, investigators, prosecutors and psychologists.
“These groups have been working in the de-occupied territories: in Kyiv region — since April, in Sumy region — since May, in Chernihiv region — since June, in Kharkiv region — since September, in Donetsk region and Kherson region — since October. Subsequently, such groups will work in the following de-occupied territories. After all, we understand that where the enemy's foot stepped, a lot of violence was committed. The police consistently process all settlements, survey the settlements, collect the evidence base, document and investigate,” said Kateryna Pavlichenko.
Among the criminal proceedings recorded by law enforcement agencies, in particular the police, there are also group rapes and rapes of minors, all these facts are included in the EHRD.
“Most of the facts of sex crimes were established in the Kiev region: 15 victims of sexual crimes committed by the Russian occupiers were identified. At least three facts have been established in the Chernihiv region. In Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kherson regions, where some liberated settlements have already been worked out, where there are also victims. We understand that this is only the tip of the iceberg, as some areas have only recently been de-occupied, some will still be liberated. In addition, it is difficult to find out all the sexual crimes committed by the Russian occupiers, because they have a high level of latency: the victims are not always ready to report these facts,” said Kateryna Pavlichenko.
She emphasized that law enforcement officers guide victims to receive comprehensive care and rehabilitation and contribute to raising awareness of citizens about their rights and services to which they can turn.
“To this end, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with the National Police, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Security Service, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Social Policy, Free Legal Aid, the Ministry of Health and with the support of the United Nations Population Fund, have developed joint recommendations. We distribute them in the de-occupied territories. Here we collect all the necessary information in case you are injured, or know about sexual crimes, where to turn to get the necessary comprehensive assistance,” the deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs informed.
We remind you that these materials are posted on the official website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the link - https://bit.ly/3gQgjQU.
“If in peacetime the facts of sexual violence were reported only about 30% of the victims, in the context of war, sexual crimes committed by the occupiers are even less reported. But the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Police will continue to work to record all war crimes committed by the Russian invaders on the territory of Ukraine, in particular, sex crimes,” Kateryna Pavlichenko assured.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
Photo by Andriy Novitsky
