Recent violent events in Ukraine's Donetsk region are distressing and entirely inconsistent with the spirit of the Geneva statement agreed to by the European Union, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the United States, according to the head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan.
"The reported torture and killing of two individuals, including a local politician, are grave incidents," Apakan said in a statement Wednesday. "This represents a significant escalation of what is already a tense situation. Furthermore, the harassment and abduction of journalists is unacceptable. They should be released immediately."
The OSCE is the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. It works to control arms, promote good governance and strengthen the rule of law, among other areas of work.
Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov ordered the country’s security forces to re-launch their "anti-terror" operations Tuesday after two people, including a local politician, were found dead in the country’s turbulent east.
Turchynov said in a statement that the two bodies found near the city of Slavyansk bore signs of torture. One was that of Vladimir Rybak, a member of Turchynov's Batkivshchyna party.
"Those crimes are being done with the full support of Russia," Turchynov said.
On April 17, Russia, Ukraine, U.S. and the EU gathered in Geneva and signed an agreement aimed at defusing the tension in Ukraine. The deal called for a halt to violence and required demonstrators to vacate the public buildings they had occupied. Disarming militias and paramilitary units in the country was another key point of the deal.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has been deployed in 10 locations across the country, following a decision by the OSCE Permanent Council of March 21.
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