(AGENPARL) - Roma, 5 Settembre 2022 - (AGENPARL) – lun 05 settembre 2022 [Image]
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Ref. CG039(2022)
Congress President condemns the continuing abduction of Ukrainian local elected representatives
“I demand the immediate and unconditional release of all local public officials in Ukraine and condemn the abhorrent practice of abduction and detention.
Mayors, as leaders in local communities, are particularly targeted for their role as the main pillar of fierce resistance against the occupation. Their enforced detention constitutes a serious violation of human rights and international humanitarian law. Attacks on local leaders are attacks on the community.
Since the beginning of the war, more than 50 local elected representatives, including 34 mayors from different regions of Ukraine, have been abducted by Russian forces. This is an obvious attempt to intimidate the civilian population and supress its resistance in the occupied territories
To date, the mayors of Dniprorudne (Zaporizhzhia region), Vilkhivka (Kharkiv region), Hola Prystan, Kherson, Hornostaivka, Zelenyi Pid, Verkhnii Rohachyk (Kherson oblast) remain in captivity.
See also:
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities
Institutional Communication Unit
The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities is an institution of the Council of Europe, responsible for strengthening local and regional democracy in its 46 member states. Composed of two chambers – the Chamber of Local Authorities and the Chamber of Regions – and three committees, it brings together 612 elected officials representing more than 130 000 local and regional authorities.
President of the Congress: Leendert Verbeek (Netherlands, SOC/G/PD), President of the Chamber of Local Authorities: Bernd Vöhringer (Germany, EPP/CCE), President of the Chamber of Regions: Harald Sonderegger (Austria, EPP/CCE).
Political groups: Group of Socialists, Greens and Progressive Democrats (SOC/G/PD), Group of the European Peoples Party (EPP/CCE), Independent Liberal and Democratic Group (ILDG), European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR).
Council of Europe/Conseil de l’Europe, Avenue de l’Europe, Strasbourg, . 67000 France