As previously reported, another negotiation round of the Trilateral Contact Group’s humanitarian subgroup took place on September 29. Commissioner for Human Rights in the DPR Daria Morozova commented on the results of the meeting on the Donbass conflict settlement.
The Ombudsperson noted that this round of negotiations had not brought any positive outcome.
“Ukraine, ignoring the calls of the coordinator and numerous official requests on our part, has again failed to provide any information on the legal clearance of the persons transferred to the DPR territory within the exchanges in 2019 and 2020. This particular topic is the key one for the humanitarian subgroup.
Since December last year, Kiev has been in every possible way evading its obligations on the legal clearance. As a result, the status of 50 persons transferred to the DPR at the exchanges on December 29, 2019 and April 16, 2020 remains in question. That is, Kiev, contrary to all the agreements, is actually continuing to prosecute these citizens. Moreover, it does not take the necessary steps towards solving this issue.
Let me remind you that the mutual obligations undertaken by the DPR and Ukraine on the legal clearance of the exchange participants are enshrined in the Protocols following the meetings of the Trilateral Contact Group. Along with that, the Protocols indicate that the exchange process will be considered completed only provided that the parties implement all their obligations in full. The DPR has fulfilled the agreement, and Kiev has failed to do this. Thus, due to the destructive stance of Ukraine, the indicated swaps of 2019-2020 are still considered incomplete, which, to put it mildly, complicates the consideration of the preparation for the further exchange stages.
My position is unambiguous: to complete the previous exchanges as soon as possible and proceed to the implementation of the new ones,” Daria Morozova stressed.
