July 17 is the birthday of Erwin Ibragimov, a Crimean Tatar activist, lawyer, member of the Bakhchisarai City Council, member of the Executive Committee of the World Congress of Crimean Tatars and the regional Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people. Today, he could have celebrated his 38th birthday with his family and friends, but the Russian occupation deprived him of this opportunity, Erwin was kidnapped and illegally taken to an unknown destination.

In May 2016, Ervin was forced into a car by unidentified persons wearing the uniform of the Russian traffic police. Since then, there has been no news from him. So far, the occupiers have not carried out an effective investigation into the abduction, the only thing the so-called “law enforcement officers” did was “inspect the car”, draw up a report and drive away. Erwin’s relatives and lawyer were not even given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the case file, and later the occupiers reported that the case was “closed” in 2017. According to Erwin Ibragimov’s father, this was not the first attempt to abduct him, and before that, he had been periodically followed by unknown persons.

Erwin Ibragimov has never betrayed his own values. He took an active pro-Ukrainian civic position, went to a rally in Crimea in support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and later constantly supported Crimean political prisoners during trials.

Back in 2020, lawyers of the NGO CrimeaSOS and the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union filed a complaint with the ECHR against Russia in the case of the enforced disappearance of Erwin Ibragimov, and in 2021, a petition with the UN Working Group on Enforced Disappearances.

Today, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is carrying out procedural control over the fact of a missing person’s disappearance on the temporarily occupied territory of the Crimean peninsula. And Erwin’s father lives every day with the hope of his son’s return and posts photos of Erwin and coffee on his personal Facebook page, signing “Due to the fact that he is temporarily absent, his friends and family will do it for him!”

The enforced disappearance of the activist because of his active civic position and defense of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people, as well as the lack of communication with him to this day, indicates one thing: the actions of the occupation administration must be stopped and punished as soon as possible.

The only way to ensure respect for human rights in Crimea is to de-occupy the peninsula as soon as possible.