A/HRC/42/40/Add.2 (iii) Victim and witness protection 63. The Working Group met with a number of victims of enforced disappearance who were released after having been detained secretly for periods varying from a few days to several months. Many of them reported having been threatened by the perpetrators after their release. 64. In addition to ensuring accountability for crimes, Ukraine should develop an adequate system of protection for victims and witnesses outside the control and purview of the regular law enforcement apparatus, and also investigate and sanction any kind of pressure or act of intimidation or reprisal against any person participating in investigations. D. Situation in the territory controlled by the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Luhansk People’s Republic” 65. The Working Group also visited certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which are not under control of the Government of Ukraine. In these districts, the “officials” of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and the “Luhansk People’s Republic” act as the de facto authorities. The Working Group visited the region following several very troubling reports of serious human rights violations committed in these territories, including numerous acts that are tantamount to enforced disappearance. 66. The experts noted how the systems of administrative and preventive detention in the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and the “Luhansk People’s Republic” particularly raised concern, as they allow for the deprivation of liberty of a person without effective judicial supervision for 30 and 60 days respectively, on the suspicion of involvement in certain illegal activities. The fact that during this period there is no obligation to reveal the whereabouts of the person to the relatives or lawyers virtually renders the system an authorization to “disappear” individuals.14 67. Another cause for deep concern is the fact that several detainees that had been released from detention in these regions reported having been held in unofficial places of detention under very dire conditions and, in a number of instances, of having been subjected to torture and ill-treatment. The fate and whereabouts of other individuals who disappeared in 2014 are still unknown.15 The de facto authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk are responsible for the acts committed in the territory under their control and for the human rights violations committed by those acting on their behalf, including acts that are tantamount to enforced disappearance. 68. The Working Group recommends that the de facto authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk ensure unimpeded access of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and other independent international observers to all places of deprivation of liberty, in accordance with international standards. 69. In meetings with the “ombudsperson” of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and the representative of the “Luhansk People’s Republic” in the Working Group on Humanitarian Issues of the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk, the Working Group was informed about the impasse in the process of simultaneous releases of detainees, and their readiness to reactivate it. The Working Group urges all involved to depoliticize this process and to consider the issue of disappeared persons a purely humanitarian one. E. Situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol 70. Unfortunately, the Working Group was not able to visit Crimea in the context of its country visit to Ukraine. 71. According to reliable information received, there have been 42 cases of enforced disappearances in Crimea since March 2014. To date, 28 individuals have been released, two 14 15 14 See also the report on the human rights situation in Ukraine from 16 May to 15 August 2018, (A/HRC/39/CRP.5), para. 51. Ibid., para. 55.