Head of SMM OSCE requires a response from the DNR after harassment to the employee of the mission
VIENNA, may 8 — RIA Novosti. The head of the Special monitoring mission (SMM) of the OSCE in the East of Ukraine, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan condemns the attempts of sexual harassment of one of the officers patrol observers of the militia in the Donetsk people’s Republic, demanding a response from the leadership of the DNI.
This is stated in the statement Apakan, released on Monday, the press service of the organization.
In the mission’s report for may 5, said a man, armed with a gun (AK-47), “sexually abused a female member of the patrol and threatened to stop the movement of the group on East from the city of Petrovsk to Razdolnoe as long as his demands are not met”. Observers SMM left the area in another way and reported the incident to the Joint center for control and coordination.
“With all the participating States, OSCE SMM condemns all forms of violence against women. This latest incident in which man armed with a gun, threatened the unarmed civilian woman — a member of the SMM patrol, making comments of a sexual nature, requires a prompt and explicit answer to the so-called “Donetsk national Republic”, — said Apakan.
The reaction from the authorities of the DNI should include identification of the responsible person and the application of appropriate measures, that the situation has not repeated, the statement said.
He added that the mission “will not tolerate any attempts to intimidate, humiliate, or otherwise interfere with its employees”.