Ombudsman Lubinets: Berehove RTCK illegally stripped deferments and falsified documents

Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets has reported mass violations of the rights of mobilized men at the Berehove District Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support (RTCK) in Zakarpattia.

According to him, hundreds of men were illegally denied their right to a lawful deferment from service.

Lubinets announced this on his Telegram channel. According to his data, during an inspection, staff from his office documented that employees of the Berehove RTCK were blocking the release of people who held valid deferment documents, while simultaneously falsifying their records — effectively “canceling” active service deferments.

In a number of cases this occurred without a commission hearing and without drawing up a protocol, while knowingly incorrect information was entered into the registry. At the same time, according to the ombudsman, fictitious reports were being rubber-stamped that “set up” the mobilized men — and it was on the basis of these reports that people were stripped of their legal rights.

Lubinets also pointed to unsatisfactory conditions of detention at the facility: unsanitary conditions, problems with clean water and bedding, and the availability of only an outdoor summer shower.

In the ombudsman’s assessment, the actions of the RTCK staff fall under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Article 146 (unlawful deprivation of liberty), Article 362 (unauthorized actions with information), Article 366 (official forgery), and Article 426-1 (abuse of power).

Previously, Lubinets had reported that people with mental disorders were being held at the TCC in Ternopil. Before that, a man who had been removed from the military register due to mental health conditions was mobilized in Zakarpattia. The mobilized man’s wife stated that she was fobbed off with stock phrases at Lubinets’s office.