To prevent further human suffering in the east of Ukraine, the rule of law has to be re-established
Strasbourg, 11 July 2016 – “The conflict in the
east of Ukraine remains the cause of enormous human suffering and loss of life.
It is high time to put an end to it and ensure the effective prosecution and
sanctioning of those responsible for human rights violations” said today Nils Muižnieks, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human
Rights, while releasing the report of his visit to Ukraine carried out last
March. In the course of that visit the Commissioner travelled to Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and the non-government controlled city of
Donetsk.
The report highlights pressing human rights
issues that have to be addressed urgently in both the government-controlled and
non-government controlled territories. The Commissioner underscores in particular
the need to uphold the right to life, the prohibition of torture and protection
from enforced disappearance.
“All parties to the conflict in the east must
respect the right to life, which implies ending the fighting
and violence and seeking a peaceful solution on the basis of the Minsk
Agreements” says Muižnieks. “The provisions of
international humanitarian law should be fully and rigorously respected by all
sides and at all times.” The Commissioner also regrets the reintroduction of
the death penalty in the non-government controlled area and recommends
reversing this decision.
The Commissioner received credible allegations
about cases of torture and ill-treatment which have occurred in 2014 and 2015
on both sides of the contact line. He calls for urgent and sustained measures
on both sides to put an end to such abuses and bring the perpetrators to
account. “Power-holders at the highest levels of responsibility should deliver
the unequivocal message that ill-treatment will not be tolerated.” He also
underscores that everyone claiming to be a victim of conflict-related crimes
should have access to justice and be provided with effective remedies and
reparation. Programmes of assistance should be
available to all victims of ill-treatment and their families, striving to
ensure their rehabilitation to the highest extent possible.
Expressing concerns about practices whereby
certain individuals have been held incommunicado and/or in unacknowledged
places of detention, the Commissioner emphasises that
there must be unimpeded access to all persons deprived of their liberty –
irrespectively whether they are being held in official or “informal” places of
detention – on both sides of the contact line. “All individuals who have been
deprived of their liberty in an arbitrary manner should be immediately
released” he says, regretting the impossibility for him and representatives of
other international organisations to access places of
deprivation of liberty on non-government controlled territories.
The Commissioner further emphasises
that to establish lasting peace and reconciliation in society it is of
paramount importance to hold to account those responsible for serious human
rights violations. To this end, a number of significant shortcomings as regards
the investigations into such abuses must be addressed as a matter of priority.
It is also important to ensure an effective investigation in every case where
there are indications that a serious human rights violation may have occurred.
“There is a multitude of challenges related to the investigation and
prosecution of all those implicated in such abuses, including in the cases
indicating the possible involvement of mercenaries and/or foreign fighters.
This is why it is important to fully co-operate with the relevant international
mechanisms which may provide assistance and expertise in this regard.”
This international cooperation should also be
reinforced to solve cases of hundreds of missing persons. “The national
legislation regulating the punishment for enforced disappearances and the
rights of the victims and their families should be reviewed to ensure that it
is fully compatible with the relevant international standards.”
Furthermore, the Commissioner underscores the
need to ensure freedom of movement of civilians across the contact line,
including by revising the Temporary Order with a view to lifting the most
restrictive provisions. He also recommends amending the regulatory framework
related to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in order to de-link the payment
of pensions and other entitlements from a person’s IDP status. The Commissioner
also calls on the Ukrainian authorities to develop a separate procedure
enabling those who permanently reside on the territories outside government
control to have access to their pensions and other social entitlements.
The Commissioner also stresses the need to
remove all barriers impeding the access of humanitarian aid, as well as those
affecting the ability of international organisations
and missions to reach out to the most vulnerable groups of the population, most
notably those residing in the non-government controlled territories and in the
“grey zone” between the check-points.
Lastly, the Commissioner observes that there is
an acute need to promote a message of reconciliation and tolerance and calls on
the media to report on the conflict according to the highest standards of
journalistic ethics and professionalism.
Council of Europe