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Mariano García Calatayud, a 75-year-old Spanish citizen, had been volunteering in Ukraine since 2014, delivering humanitarian aid to war-affected children. Now detained by Russian authorities,  Mariano's health is worsening, with former prisoners reporting that they witnessed Mariano being tortured by prison guards.

Mariano was forcibly disappeared from the Ukrainian city of Kherson on 19 March 2022 after attending a peaceful protest against Russia's occupation of Kherson.

After 13 months of uncertainty about his fate and whereabouts, Russian authorities officially acknowledged his detention but gave no legal grounds for it. Mariano had been transferred to the Russian-occupied Crimea and secretly placed in a detention centre.

Independent Russian media sources have published eyewitness accounts reporting Mariano's deteriorating health, and his exposure to torture and other ill-treatment, including repeated electrocution and being bitten by a guard dog.

There are reports of hundreds of civilians from occupied Ukrainian territories who have similarly been forcibly disappeared by the Russian authorities and remain in unlawful, incommunicado detention. 

Secret detention is unlawful and enforced disappearance is a crime under international law. The forcibly disappeared person is placed outside the protection of the law, which impedes their recourse to legal remedies and guarantees of protection and places them in a situation of complete defencelessness. This in turn makes them vulnerable to other human rights violations, such as torture or even killing.

Sign the petition to call on Russia's Chief Military Prosecutor to immediately release Mariano, investigate all allegations of his and other detainees’ torture and other ill-treatment, ensure those responsible are brought to account in fair trial proceedings and release every person held in detention without legitimate legal grounds. 

 

Sign the Petition

  Our Petition
 
 

Valeriy Georgievich Petrov
Chief Military Prosecutor
Pereulok Holzunova 14, Moscow
119160 Russian Federation

Dear Chief Military Prosecutor,

I am writing to demand the immediate release of Mariano García Calatayud, a Spanish citizen who was forcibly disappeared by the occupying Russian forces in Kherson on 19 March 2022.

After 13 months of uncertainty about his fate and whereabouts, the Black Sea Fleet Military Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged, in a letter to a lawyer, his incarceration in a pretrial detention centre in Simferopol “to verify information about [his possible] involvement in the commission of actions aimed at causing damage to the security of the Russian Federation.” No legitimate grounds for his detention were given in the letter, and no further details were provided, since they purportedly constitute a state secret.

According to media reports, Mariano García Calatayud has now been in incommunicado detention all this time, media have reported, quoting eyewitness accounts have reported his torture and other ill-treatment, including repeated electrocution and being bitten by a guard dog, and his poor, deteriorating health.

There are reports of hundreds of civilians from occupied Ukrainian territories who have similarly been forcibly disappeared by the Russian authorities and remain in unlawful, incommunicado detention.

I urge you to immediately release Mariano García Calatayud and give him free passage to a destination of his choice, so he can be reunited with his family, unless he is charged with an internationally recognizable criminal offence and tried according to international fair trial standards; to effectively investigate all allegations of his and other detainees’ torture and other ill-treatment and ensure the accountability of all those found responsible in fair trial proceedings; immediately disclose the fate and whereabouts of all persons detained by the occupying Russian forces in Ukraine, ensure their immediate contact with their families and a lawyer of their choice, clarify their legal status, and release every person held in detention without legitimate legal grounds.

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]