A Ukranian woman is speaking out against Russian-sponsored militants that publicly tortured her for speaking about the crisis in Ukraine and criticizing Russia’s recent election to the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Irina Dovgan, of Donbas, Ukraine, recalled the four days of abuse in a meeting of the Human Rights Council.
"I was tortured by Russian-sponsored militants," she said.
Testifying on behalf of human rights group UN Watch, Dovgan said she was kidnapped from her home and accused of being a "spotter" for the Ukraine army. She denied the charges and said she had only provided the soldiers with food, medicine, and clothes.
Despite her denial, Dovgan was made a spectacle in Donestk’s city center. She was forced to hold a sign that read "I am a killer and an agent of killers" while militants threatened to shoot and gang rape her. The militants also withheld food and water.
"Passersby beat me, kicked me, spit at me in the face, and took pictures with me," she said.
Dovgan was ultimately forced to turn over her family’s financial information. Her accounts were later drained in Russia.
Now Dovgan’s family is receiving death threats, including pointed threats to her 15-year-old daughter.
At the end of her testimony Dovgan called on world powers to "stop the aggressor who came to our land."
"I do not understand why Russia, directly sponsoring my torturers, was recently elected to the Human Rights Council," Dovgan said. "I ask the United Nations to demand that Russia guarantee that I will not be persecuted for speaking the truth."