Civilians living in eastern Ukraine and the Russian-annexed Ukrainian territory of Crimea need better protection from abuses and persecution, rights watchdog Human Rights Watch said in its latest world report, issued on Jan. 12.
Speaking at a media briefing in Kyiv on the day the report was released, Tanya Cooper, Ukraine researcher at Human Rights Watch, emphasized the importance of Kyiv remaining committed to reforms and human rights protection, despite political instability and Russian aggression in the country.
“Only by strengthening democracy will it be possible (for Ukraine) to become a remarkable example, in a region where authoritarian regimes are growing stronger,” said Cooper.
This year’s report also highlighted the dangerous wave of populism in the United States and Europe, and rise of authoritarianism in countries like Russia, Turkey, and China.
Ill-treatment
The situation in the war zone in eastern Ukraine remained tense in 2016, despite the Minsk-2 agreements on a ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons being signed in 2015, the report reads.
Human rights activists documented the ill-treatment of civilians detained for allegedly collaborating with the enemy in eastern Ukraine – by both the Ukrainian side and by the Russia-backed armed groups that have seized control in parts of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.
In many cases, detainees were held in arbitrary detention for prolonged periods, and deprived of contact with family and lawyers. Many were subjected to torture or sexual abuse.
Cooper said that Human Rights Watch had discovered that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had held 18 people in detention secretly in Kharkiv – one of them for as long as 16 months. Thirteen people were released later.
The SBU has denied allegations that it has held prisoners in secret. An investigation by the military prosecutor’s office in to the claims has yet to produce any results.
The situation in the areas of Ukraine where Russian-backed armed groups have seized control is also bad, according to Cooper.
“In the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk Republics, local security services operate with total disregard to the law,” Cooper said.
“Persons in their custody are subjected to torture and rarely have access to any kind of protection.”
Russian crackdown
Human Rights Watch also confirmed that the situation with human rights in Crimea has drastically deteriorated since the Ukrainian territory was annexed by Russia. Russian-appointed authorities continue to persecute Crimean Tatars for peacefully opposing the occupation, the report said. Under the pretest of combating extremism and terrorism, the Russian occupation authorities have shut down the Mejlis, the only representative body of the Crimean Tatars, and arrested a number of former Mejlis deputies and activists who condemned the annexation.
“We hope to have a research mission in Crimea in 2017 to document human rights violations and bring them to the attention of Moscow,” Cooper said.
Freedom of speech
The efforts of the Ukrainian government to fight Russian propaganda have had negative effect on the media freedom in the country, according to the Human Rights Watch.
Journalists and media outlets suffered from attacks after being branded anti-Ukrainian. In addition, the murders of journalists Pavel Sheremet in 2016 and Oles Buzina in 2015 remain unsolved.
“Ukrainian authorities did not respond appropriately to nationalist groups’ attacks on journalists and the leaking of the personal data of hundreds of journalists and others accredited by the DNR (Donetsk-based Russian-backed armed groups’) press center,” the report stated.
“No effective investigations have been carried out to identify and prosecute those responsible,” the report said.
