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Donetsk republic calls on international agencies to help release prisoners held by Kiev

Prisoner exchange is one of the key points of the Minsk peace deal

DONETSK, April 12. /TASS/. International organizations should facilitate the release of prisoners illegally kept in Ukraine, Commissioner for Human Rights of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Darya Morozova said in a statement obtained by TASS on Wednesday.

"I request international organizations to help identify the 100 persons illegally held by Ukraine and take measures in order to set them free as soon as possible," Morozova said, reminding "in his confession published by the German daily Bild Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko admitted the fact that they (Ukrainian authorities) are illegally holding about 100 persons."

"Being the Human Rights Commission in the DPR, I appeal to the international community to carry out an investigation into that statement," she went on to say. "Since under international law, it runs counter to implementation of the Minsk accords and demonstrate direct evidence of violations of human rights and freedoms."

Prisoner exchanges are one of the key points of the Minsk-2 peace deal. The package of measures also provides for granting amnesty to all participants in the Donbass conflict and obliges Kiev to adopt and enforce a law banning any prosecution and punishment of persons involved in the events that took place in some parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.