Human Rights Day 2024
Every year, on December 10, the international community celebrates Human Rights Day. On this day in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Russian invasions of 2014 and 2022 have starkly highlighted the necessity of enhanced cooperation to end the terror, abuse, torture, and killings perpetrated by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and other territories effectively controlled by the terrorist state.
The principles of inalienable rights to life, freedom, labor, education, personal inviolability, freedom of thought, and others are nullified by the occupation of territories, the abduction of people, and especially the operation of torture chambers and filtration camps created by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
The former cultural center “Izolyatsia” in Donetsk has been transformed into a torture chamber. In effect, it is a concentration camp where, for over 10 years, defenseless individuals have been held hostage, tortured, and murdered. The “Izolyatsia” torture chamber is an illegal prison whose existence is not officially acknowledged by the Russian Federation. No humanitarian or monitoring missions have been allowed access to the hostages, and there are no official mechanisms for reaching the prisoners or obtaining information about those held in this location. This site remains operational and stands as one of Russia's most emblematic crimes.
Since December 2020, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ukrainian Institute, and IZOLYATSIA Foundation have been raising global awareness about these crimes through the information campaign #IzolyatsiaMustSpeak.
Stanislav Aseyev's book, The Bright Path: The Story of a Concentration Camp, the documentary Izolyatsia by director Igor Minaev, and the biographical film about Stanislav Aseyev, The Bright Path by director Iryna Riabenka, reveal how Russia undermines universal human values. The world must see the crimes that Russia is committing in Ukraine. To this end, the Embassy of Ukraine in Chile is presenting the film Izolyatsia. Additionally, screenings of the film have taken place in Paris and Brussels, initiated and supported by director Igor Minaev.
All prisoners held in the illegal torture chamber “Izolyatsia,” as well as in similar locations in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, must be freed. Accountability for these crimes must be inevitable. Therefore, we continue to insist on the creation of a fully-fledged international ad hoc tribunal to address the crime of aggression against Ukraine committed by Russia's political and military leadership.
#IzolyatsiaMustSpeak
#HumanRightsDay