UN Human Rights
Monitoring Mission Report that has been published documents the ‘alarming’
deterioration in human rights in eastern Ukraine. They list numerous specific
examples of targeted killings, torture and beatings, abductions, intimidation
and some cases of sexual harassment – mostly carried out by well-organized and
well-armed anti-Government groups in the east.
The report also draws
attention to missing persons, including 83 still unaccounted for after the events
related to the original Maidan protests in Kiev. In the east, there has been a
worrying rise in abductions and unlawful detention of journalists, activists,
local politicians, representatives of international organizations and members
of the military, the report says. While some have subsequently been released,
the bodies of a number of others have been dumped in rivers or other areas, and
some remain unaccounted for.
The problem has been
especially marked in and around the town of Slovyansk, in the Donetsk region,
with a group called the ‘Slovyansk self-defence unit’ heavily implicated.
The report also highlights
a number of other emerging problems in Crimea, especially in relation to the
Crimean Tatars and minorities. Problems include: restrictions on the freedom of
movement of their leaders (several of whom were denied entry when trying to go
back to Crimea from other parts of Ukraine); cases of physical harassment;
restrictions on Crimean Tatar media; fears of religious persecution of those
who are practising Muslims; and a threat by the Crimean prosecutor that the
work of the Parliament of the Crimean Tatars People may be announced illegal
and terminated. Already, more than 7,200 people from Crimea – mostly Crimean
Tartars – have become internally displaced in other areas of Ukraine.
The full report can be
accessed
In other news, A. Kamzin,
the press secretary of the Mejlis, the highest representative body of the
Crimean Tatar people, stated that the authorities in illegally occupied and
annexed Crimea carried out mass searches of the homes of Crimean Tatars during
the night of May 14-15, apparently searching for explosives and weapons;
none were found.
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