The state authorities of Ukraine must take threats of hate-fueled violence seriously and those guilty of attacking the Roma families in the village of Andriyivka, Kharkiv region, and the participants in the peaceful rally in support to the LGBT+ community in Odesa on August 29-30 must be held responsible in full compliance with the current legislation,” Matthew Schaaf, the director of Freedom House’s Ukraine office, said.
“The recent assaults on peaceful LGBT+ human rights supporters and Romany people are an urgent reminder that threats of hate-motivated violence must be taken seriously by state authorities, who have a responsibility to prevent and respond to such violence,” Freedom House cited Schaaf as saying in its statement.
In both cases, the incidents were preceded by numerous threats of violence on social media and elsewhere, he said.
“That the assaults still took place-in the presence of law enforcement authorities, who were unprepared to deal with the rapidly escalating threats-underscores the fact that perpetrators of hate-motivated violence continue to enjoy impunity in Ukraine,” Schaaf said.
“The people responsible for the attacks in Kharkiv and Odesa must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of existing law,” he said.
Additionally, “policymakers should take decisive action to improve Ukraine’s legal framework to prevent and respond to hate-motivated violence, in keeping with international human rights protections,” he said.
As reported, on August 30, the Equality March in Odesa ended up in a scuffle between members of the LGBT+ community and nationalists; 16 violators of the public order were taken to the Prymorsky district police station, and two policemen were injured.
On August 29, residents of Andriyivka village staged up a rally demanding that the authorities expel the Roma people from the village and the police uphold the public order. According to the local media citing participants of the rally, on August 19, 20-25 people had beaten a young man up during a scuffle. Following the rally, its participants reached the house where the Roma families live and tried to break into the court while chanting “Leave!” The police blocked them. The protestors threw eggs and stones at the windows of the house, one of the windows got broken.
“A peaceful protest turned into clashes. The members of the police force were alarmed immediately and evacuated the Roma families from the center of the conflict,” the communications department of the main directorate of the National Police in Kharkiv region said.
No one was injured in the incident. A criminal case of hooliganism and infringement on the equality of citizens based on their race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, disability status, or on other grounds was opened following it.
