“I demand the immediate and unconditional release of all local public officials in Ukraine and condemn the abhorrent practice of abduction and detention,” said Leendert Verbeek, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, on Monday 5 September.
Since the beginning of the war, more than 50 local officials, including 34 mayors from different regions of Ukraine, have been abducted by Russian forces, he said, adding that to date, the mayors of Dniprorudne (Zaporizhzhia region), Vilkhivka (Kharkiv region), Hola Prystan, Kherson, Hornostaivka, Zelenyi Pid and Verkhnii Rohachyk (Kherson oblast) are still in captivity.
According to Leendert Verbeek, “mayors are particularly targeted for their role as the main pillar of fierce resistance against the occupation”.
In its statement, it highlights the position of the Congress, which considers that the Russian Federation bears full responsibility for the war and confirms full solidarity with Ukraine and its people “in their struggle against the aggressor”.
Mr Verbeek also fully supports the statement by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights issued on 29 August on the eve of the “International Day for the Victims of Enforced Disappearances”. Dunja Mijatović condemned the abductions of local politicians, journalists and human rights defenders in occupied Ukraine.
Statement by the Commissioner for Human Rights: https://aeur.eu/f/2y1 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)