This date was established by UN General Assembly Resolution 65/209 of December 21, 2010. The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was the first international legal act to guarantee the absolute human right not to be subjected to enforced disappearance. Ukraine acceded to this Convention in 2015.

Since the outbreak of the war in 2014 and especially after the full-scale invasion in 2022, the practice of enforced disappearances has become one of the most common methods of intimidation of citizens in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The exact number of people who have disappeared since the beginning of the occupation in Crimea has not yet been established, but we can talk about 60 people. The largest wave of disappearances occurred in the first month of the occupation of Crimea when about 20 cases were recorded.

Enforced disappearance is defined as the arrest, detention, abduction, or deprivation of freedom in any other form by representatives of the state or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support, or consent of the state, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or concealment of information about the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, leaving that person without the protection of the law.

According to the NGO Crimea-SOS (Research “Enforced Disappearances in Crimea during the period of occupation by the Russian Federation in 2014-2020”), as of August 2020, six victims of enforced disappearances in Crimea were found dead, and the fate of 15 more remains unknown.

In 11 of the 15 cases, there is evidence of the involvement of Russian state bodies or Russian-controlled organizations in the enforced disappearances. Valerii Vashchuk, Ivan Bondarets, Vasyl Chernysh, Tymur Shaimardanov, Seiran Zinedinov, Isliam Dzhepparov, Dzhevdet Isliamov, Fedir Kostenko, Mukhtar Arislanov, Arsen Aliiev and Ervin Ibrahimov are disappeared. 

The disappearance of Ervin Ibrahimov, a member of the Executive Board of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars and a member of the regional Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, is significant. He was abducted on May 24, 2016, in Bakhchysarai, and his whereabouts are still unknown. 

This case, as well as other disappearances, falls under the definition of a war crime and a crime against humanity and is part of a widespread and systematic attack on pro-Ukrainian activists, including Crimean Tatars or their relatives. It is important to note that the occupation “law enforcement agencies” have not effectively investigated any of the cases of enforced disappearances.