The Open Dialogue Foundation calls for the imposition of personal sanctions against persons responsible for the kidnapping, arrest and imprisonment of Ukraine’s PACE delegate, people’s deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ukrainian citizen Nadiya Savchenko.
Savchenko, a Ukrainian servicewoman, volunteered to participate in the anti-terrorist operation in the east of Ukraine. She was kidnapped by terrorists of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR) and taken to the Russian Federation. She is being falsely accused of involvement in the killing of Russian journalists in the ATO zone and is being kept in detention on the territory of the Russian Federation.
We are convinced that a failure to punish the accomplices in the case of Savchenko’s kidnapping and illegal detention would constitute a dangerous precedent in international law.
Given that the Russian Federation:
- is a member of the United Nations Organisation, Organisation on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Council of Europe, and International Monetary Fund;
- has ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and United Nations Convention against Corruption;
- is bound by legal commitments, laid down in the European Convention on Human Rights,
We appeal to
- Petro Poroshenko, President of Ukraine;
- Arsenii Yatseniuk, Prime-Minister of Ukraine;
- Members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;
- Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary General;
- Anne Brasseur, President of PACE;
- Ilkka Kanerva, President of OSCE PA;
- Hugh Bayley, President of NATO PA;
- Donald Tusk, President of the European Council;
- Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission;
- Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy;
- Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament;
- Barack Obama, President of the United States of America;
- Members of PACE;
- Members of OSCE PA;
- Members of NATO PA;
- Members of the European Parliament;
- European governments.
With a request to
- Restrict entry to signatory countries;
- Block access to bank accounts and seize property in countries involved;
- Assist in the objective investigation into, and proper punishment of, those responsible for the kidnapping, arrest and imprisonment of Nadiya Savchenko
For those listed below, involved in the Savchenko case:
- Persons responsible for the political decision to kidnap Nadiya Savchenko, transport her to the territory of Russia, detain her unlawfully and fabricate charges against her; persons responsible for legitimising the actions of Russia towards Nadiya Savchenko in the eyes of the international community
- Persons responsible for fabrication of evidence during the pre-trial investigation of Nadiya Savchenko’s case
- Persons responsible for presenting fabricated evidence against Nadiya Savchenko during the court proceedings; persons who took decisions on the legality of said evidence and the extension of Savchenko’s detainment period; other immediate executors of the unlawful decisions.
