persecution against civil society. According to them, fear is spreading in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with an increasing number of acts of intimidation and violence by armed groups, targeting “ordinary” people who support Ukrainian unity or who openly oppose the either of the two “people’s republics”. 208. Among cases brought to the attention of the HRMMU, on 14 May, four armed men in camouflage reportedly abducted the principal of a school in Luhansk from the school premises. Allegedly, she had opposed holding the “referendum” on the school premises. She was released a few hours later, but refused to speak about the incident. The same day in Kramatorsk, armed men came to the apartment of an employee and reportedly abducted him. Reportedly they were looking for his 16-year old son, allegedly because of his active “Pro-Ukrainian” position, including in the social media. Since the son was not to be found, they took the father to the occupied building of the Kramatorsk City Council where he was beaten. Allegedly, they eventually found the son and took him to the city council. Both were released a few hours later, and the whole family left the region the same day. Killings 209. Increasingly residents have been killed by armed groups. On 8 May, the burned body of Valeriy Salo, a farmer and head of a local cultural organization known as a “Pro-Maidan” activist, was found a day after he had been abducted by armed persons from his village. There have also been several reports of killings at checkpoints held by armed groups. That same day, an Orthodox priest was shot dead at a checkpoint near his hometown of Druzhivka, and a couple was also shot dead in their car at a checkpoint in the Luhansk region. Their daughter survived with head injuries. In the same region, on 23 May, a woman who allegedly did not stop at a checkpoint died when heavy gun fire was opened at her car. 210. The HRMMU is also concerned about reports of “summary executions” by representatives of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”. On 18 May, in a village near Slovyansk an elderly farmer was accused of bringing food to the Ukrainian forces, taken out of his house into the yard, where according to witnesses a “sentence” was read in the name of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and shot dead, in front of his family and neighbours. Reportedly, on 26 May, by order of Igor Strelkov, Dmytro Slavov (“commander of a company of the people’s militia”) and Mykola Lukyanov (“commander of a platoon of the militia of ”Donetsk People’s Republic”) were “executed” in Slovyansk, after they were “sentenced” for “looting, armed robbery, kidnapping and abandoning the battle field”. The order, which was circulated widely and posted in the streets in Slovyansk, referred to a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR of 22 June 1941 as the basis for the execution. Torture 211. The HRMMU has been following cases of individuals who have been abducted and detained by armed groups in eastern Ukraine. Several interviews conducted with persons who were abducted provide vivid accounts of human rights abuses committed by representatives of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and the “Luhansk People’s Republic”, including beatings, psychological torture and mock executions. There are instances of relatives of detained persons, including women and children, having been threatened and 105 | P a g e