People with mental disorders and disabilities held at Ternopil TRC - Lubinets
Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets stated that people with mental disorders and disabilities were being held at the Ternopil territorial recruitment and social support center (TRC). Following the intervention of the Ombudsman’s Office, five citizens were released, two of them with mental disorders, and another with a lifelong group II disability since childhood.
"My representatives have just returned from a monitoring visit to the Ternopil regional and city TRC. This is yet another situation showing that mobilization reform is needed not tomorrow or today — it was needed yesterday," he wrote on Telegram on Friday.
According to him, thanks to the intervention of the ombudsman’s team, "5 people who were not subject to mobilization were immediately released." They were let go from the TRC premises, and corresponding changes were made to their military registration data regarding their removal from the military registry. Among them were a man with a lifelong group II disability since childhood, two people with mental disorders (whose diagnoses are not disclosed due to ethical reasons), and two men who have about half a year left until reaching the age of 60.
During the visit to the site where the mobilized Ukrainians were being kept, about 28 individuals were being held at that time. Out of them, 17 filed written complaints to the ombudsman regarding possible violations of their rights.
"What we saw is outrageous: the supervisor over the mobilized individuals was in a state of alcohol intoxication. The alcohol level in his blood exceeded the permissible limit nearly sevenfold," Lubinets said. He also reported that during one-on-one conversations, people spoke about possible violations during mobilization, improper processing of documents, as well as failure to comply with requirements during the medical examination commission process.
"All stated facts have been documented, and the leadership has already been notified about them," he added.