2 November, 2023IndustriALL Global Union and IndustriAll European Union are urgently calling for immediate action to locate and secure the release of workers who have disappeared from the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine.
Three workers from ZNPP have gone missing under disturbing circumstances. Brazhnyk Oleksii Petrovych, a retired lieutenant colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and engineer at the Physical Protection Service of ZNPP, was abducted from his workplace on 21 September 2022, and his current whereabouts are unknown.
Similarly, Korzh Sergiy Volodymyrovych, an engineer at the Electrical Shop of ZNPP, was abducted on 4 September 2022 and has not been found since.
Korzh Olexander Volodymyrovych, employed at the State Scientific and Technical Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety at ZNPP, was taken captive alongside his brother Sergiy on 4 September 2022. Although he was briefly released on 07 September 2022, he was detained again on 16 December 2022 and transported to an undisclosed location. His current location remains a mystery, adding to the growing concerns about the safety and well-being of these missing workers.
IndustriALL has sent urgent letters to key international bodies. The letters, addressed to the Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, and to the members of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, call for immediate action to secure the release of the workers.
IndustriALL Global and IndustriAll Europe have also sent a joint letter to European Union representatives to assist in the location and release of the workers.
Isabelle Barthès and Judith Kirton-Darling, acting joint general secretaries of industriAll Europe affirm:
"We strongly condemn the enforced disappearance of workers at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which is a crime and simply inhumane. Together with our global sister organisation, we call on the United Nations to intervene urgently to secure the release of the missing workers. We will do our utmost to monitor and shed light on the situation of workers in Russian-occupied territories and companies in Ukraine and inform the EU authorities accordingly".
The letters highlight the cases of three workers affiliated with the union Atomprofspilka, who have mysteriously vanished:
This forced disappearance of individuals constitutes a crime against humanity under the International Criminal Court statute, as well as a violation of the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
The Russian Federation should immediately and unconditionally cease its aggression, withdraw its troops from Ukraine, and end the suffering it is inflicting on the people of Ukraine. We call on you to contact the Government of the Russian Federation to ensure the immediate safe release of the workers from the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant who have been victim of enforced disappearance.
"We stand united in our demand for immediate action. The disappearance of the workers from the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant is a violation of human rights. IndustriALL will not rest until these missing workers are safely returned to their families. We urge the international community to join us in this call for justice, unity, and the protection of workers' rights worldwide,"
says Atle Høie, IndustriALL general secretary.