A/HRC/44/21 therein.27 Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons, from occupied territory to the territory of the occupying Power, or to that of any other country, occupied or not, regardless of their motive, are prohibited.28 24. Detainees continued to be transferred from Crimea to the Russian Federation at pretrial stages, to stand trial, or to serve sentences, including those imposed by Ukrainian courts prior to the occupation. OHCHR has verified information about the transfer from Crimea to the Russian Federation of 211 detainees (200 men and 11 women), including 125 pre-conflict prisoners. However, the actual number of detainees transferred since 2014 is reported to be significantly higher than that.29 25. During the reporting period, OHCHR documented eight cases of current and former detainees (seven men and one woman) who were transferred from Crimea to penitentiary institutions in the Russian Federation in remote locations. Owing to the distances involved and the financial costs, their relatives were unable to visit them or cover the travel fees of defence lawyers. This is a particular concern for detainees serving life sentences, some of whom have not seen their family members since they were transferred. The relocation of detainees from Crimea to the Russian Federation normally involved multiple stops at different penal colonies and pretrial detention centres across the Russian Federation and, in some cases, the process lasted several weeks. In all eight documented cases, neither the detainees nor their relatives were told in advance where they would be serving their sentences. During the transfers, the relatives were not provided with any information on the whereabouts of those in detention. 26. OHCHR documented three cases in which detainees held in penitentiary institutions in the Russian Federation were not allowed visits from relatives before their conviction came into force. In some cases, the authorities allowed relatives to visit detainees for the first time only a year after their arrest. In addition, the penitentiary system rules of the Russian Federation impose restrictions on visits to penal colonies, including the need to apply for special permission, and denial of visiting rights during periods when detainees are placed in punishment cells.30 Two detainees described the practice of arbitrary placement in a punishment cell owing to the “untidiness” of the detainee, failure to greet a prison guard or on the occasion of a major Russian holiday. Detainees also complained to OHCHR about the denial of requests for visits of a Ukrainian consular officer.31 In at least six documented cases, the detaining authorities denied consular access to Ukrainian detainees with registered addresses in Crimea whom they considered to be citizens of the Russian Federation. 27. While many transferred detainees have expressed the wish to be returned to other parts of Ukraine to serve the remainder of their sentences, none have been repatriated since 2017.32 Ukraine does not legally recognize verdicts rendered by the courts in Crimea during the temporary occupation. The Russian Federation has expressed its unwillingness to return to Ukraine those detainees whom it considers to be citizens of the Russian Federation. Neither Ukraine nor the Russian Federation have made use of the Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (1983), to which both are parties. An acceptable legal 27 28 29 30 31 32 Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 76. Ibid., art. 49. E.g., OHCHR, “Situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine)”, para. 116. Available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Crimea2014_2017_EN.pdf. Detainees are placed in a punishment cell for up to 15 days as a sanction for violation of internal prison rules. While in practice the restrictions associated with placement in a punishment cell vary depending on the penal institution, they often include prohibition of visits from relatives and other visitors, telephone calls and receipt of packages, limitations on personal belongings and the withdrawal of access to a prison shop. Detainees placed in punishment cells reported significantly worse conditions from the rest of the penal institution, including sanitary conditions. Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, art. 36 (1) (c). On 17 March 2017, 12 detainees who had been sentenced by Ukrainian courts before March 2014 and transferred from Crimea to facilities in the Russian Federation were returned to Ukraine. OHCHR, “Situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine)”, para. 119. 7