Abduction and detention 35. According to the Ukrainian government76, since mid-April, 717 people have been abducted by armed groups in eastern Ukraine. These included: 46 journalists, 112 police officers, 26 representatives of the OSCE, 22 deputies, members of political parties and heads of district (town) councils, 5 employees of the prosecution office, 2 lawyers, 2 judges, 1 employee of the penitentiary service and 481 other people (including 392 girls and women). The armed groups also detained 91 servicemen and border guards as well as 4 Security Service officers. 437 people were released. The whereabouts of 375 people remains unknown. 36. The HRMMU has been following the cases of 400 people who were abducted since midApril. Of these, 4 people are dead (having been found dead with visible signs of torture), 211 are still detained, and 185 have been released. Of those still detained, 202 are men and 9 are women. 37. The number of people abducted by the armed groups has significantly increased in Luhansk city during the past 2 weeks. For example, a group of 13 employees of PrivatBank were abducted on 7 July. Four were subsequently released and 9 remain in captivity. 38. Intimidation and violence by the armed groups against civilians in the east has continued, with people being abducted and detained often for purposes of hostage taking. The armed groups also carry out acts of ill-treatment, torture and murder. 39. Some of those detained by the armed groups are local politicians, public officials and employees of the local coal mining industry; the majority are ordinary citizens, including teachers, journalists, members of the clergy and students. 40. The motivation for the abductions and detentions by the armed groups appears to be: a) exchange with detainees held by the Government; b) gain some influence on the situation; c) extortion of property or money; d) source of labour for digging trenches and preparing military barricades; e) opportunistic ‘arrests’ of people; and f) ‘internal discipline’ of the armed groups themselves. With these acts, the armed groups continued to exercise their power over the population in raw and brutal ways. 41. Examples of the 400 cases that the HRMMU has been following include the following: in Donetsk, a free-lance cameraman was reportedly abducted in Slovyansk. In Soledar (Donetsk region) the chairman of a Trade Union organization at the Artyomsol Company was abducted. A professor at the Luhansk National University was abducted. A resident of Pionerske village in the Luhansk region was reported missing. The Head of a company called Agrovostok in Malarovo (Luhansk region) was abducted. According to unconfirmed reports, the police chief of Severodonetsk (Luhansk region) was detained by armed persons. Two university students were abducted in Donetsk allegedly for breaking the curfew and told they would be drafted into the DPR army. They were later found in an occupied public building and had been engaged in ‘forced labour’. A university professor was abducted by armed persons ‘for questioning’ for allegedly taking photos and videos of the movements of armed groups and posting them online. Two senior managers of a private company were abducted at a checkpoint while driving at night near Karlivka (Donetsk region). A protestant pastor and his wife were abducted and held in Druzhkivka (Donetsk region) by the ‘Donbas People’s Militia’. Three drunk people driving a car in Luhansk were reported missing; two others who were drinking with friends outside a café in downtown Luhansk were ‘arrested’ by armed men after a fight broke out. An assistant of the Donetsk Regional Governor was abducted on 26 June and the chief of the Artemivsk pre-trail 76 Ministry of the Interior figures as of 18 July. 139 | P a g e