International organization Human Rights Watch records significant violations of human rights in the east of Ukraine, in Crimea, and also notes the deterioration of the situation with freedom of speech and the media in Ukraine last year.
Presenting the “Human Rights Watch 2018 World Report” at a briefing in Kyiv on January 18, director and researcher of this organization in Ukraine, Tanya Cooper, noted that military actions in the east continue posing a threat to the civilian population and infrastructure, and international organizations continue registering losses among civilian population. According to her, torture and arbitrary detention continue to be practiced.
“In the separatist-held territories de-facto authorities arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared people, with utter disregard for the rule of law,” Cooper said.
Among the positive steps taken by the Ukrainian authorities in this context, the head of Human Rights Watch in Ukraine called the simplification of the contact line passage for civilians.
“Throughout 2017, all sides to the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine endangered civilians and civilian infrastructure, as they continued hostilities,” she said.
In addition, Cooper said, Human Rights Watch records other human rights violations that arose in Ukraine last year.
“In recent months, Ukraine’s government took several steps to restrict freedom of expression, media freedom, and freedom of association, invoking as justification the need to counter Russia’s military aggression in eastern Ukraine and anti-Ukraine propaganda,” Cooper said.
“The human rights crisis in Crimea that began with Russia’s occupation of the peninsula in 2014 persisted. Russian authorities thoroughly suppressed public criticism of Russia’s actions there, including through criminal prosecution. They also targeted Crimean Tatars for their pro-Ukraine position, using criminal prosecutions for separatism and baseless terrorism-related charges. Authorities in Crimea also detained and imposed fines on Crimean Tatars who peacefully staged single-person pickets to protest the arrest and prosecution of others,” director of Human Rights Watch in Ukraine said.
First of all, according to Cooper, this concerns representatives of the Crimean Tatar people.
The organization emphasizes the positive work of Ukrainian law enforcers in providing security in holding marches of equality, but draw attention to the fact that such phenomena as homophobia and transphobia at the domestic level in Ukraine are still widespread.
Among the negative aspects of the observance of human rights in Ukraine the international organization points to the unresolved events of EuroMaidan and a number of resonant murders, including the journalist Pavel Sheremet.
