201. On 26 May, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) lost contact in the town of Antrazyt, with one of its Donetsk-based teams, consisting of four persons. On 29 May, contact was lost with another team of four in the Luhansk region. As of 7 June, the eight remained detained and their whereabouts unknown. 11 other OSCE SMM members were stopped on 28 May for a few hours at a checkpoint in Mariynka (Donetsk region) before being able to return safely to Donetsk. 202. On 25 May, two officers of the SBU were reportedly detained by the “Luhansk People’s Republic” while attempting to negotiate the release of their colleagues who were being detained. Their current location remains unknown. On 2 June, three police officers of the Amvrosievka District Department of the MoI were reportedly abducted; their whereabouts remain unknown although there are reports they might be detained by armed groups in Horlivka. Two senior police officers went to Horlivka to negotiate their release. They have not returned and their whereabouts is also unknown. 203. The HRMMU was involved in efforts to negotiate the release of individuals detained by the armed groups under the control of the “Donetsk People’s Republic and the “Luhansk People’s Republic”. Following repeated interventions, several civic activists and members of district election commissions were released from the SBU building in Donetsk on 27 May. During the night of 29-30 May, 20 civilians detained in the SBU building were released following discussions between the HRMMU and representatives of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”. 204. The HRMMU appealed to the leadership of the “Luhansk People’s Republic” on 26 May for the release of two detained journalists at the occupied building of the SBU in Luhansk. A similar release took place of a third journalist. They were all detained by armed groups for having covered the elections in the Donetsk region. While in detention, two of the journalists were badly beaten, and were hospitalised upon their release. 205. The emergence of ransom demands is a worrisome trend, following abductions of people from their homes and in some cases accompanied by looting and stealing of valuables, including cars. For example, on 9-10 May, an armed group together with police officers allegedly abducted the parents of a local activist from “Svoboda”, from their home in the village Khanzhenkovo (near Makyivka, Donetsk region). On 10 May, the home of an activist from Kramatorsk was allegedly attacked and items stolen by armed persons. Applicable international law prohibits the taking of hostages for purposes of demanding ransom or political concessions, regardless of whether the victims are of the general population or involved in the fighting. 206. On 26 May, three deputy prosecutors were abducted by armed men, but two were immediately released. The third was subsequently exchanged for three supporters of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” who were being detained in the Lukyanovskoe pre-trial detention centre in Kyiv. That same day, a traffic police officer was taken hostage by an armed group of “Cossacks” in Antratsyt in Luhansk region. The family was asked for a ransom of one million UAH (approximately 80,000 USD). 207. Although most of the persons detained are activists, journalists, and town councillors, NGOs in Donetsk have highlighted to the HRMMU a growing pattern of the systematic 104 | P a g e