On 29 January 2014, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) clearly condemned “the excessive and disproportionate use of violence by the police against protesters.” As mentioned by the Assembly’s rapporteur Mailis Reps (MP, Estonia), “[the Assembly’s] most important duty is to observe that democracy, human rights and the rule of law are respected in all Council of Europe member states. There are concerns that the situation in Ukraine may turn more violent and that the death toll will rise.”

“This urgent debate is welcome and the Council of Europe’s engagement on Ukraine can be congratulated. However, time for clear action has come, as in the country violence continues and those guilty are not held accountable,” says from Strasbourg Florian Irminger, Head of Advocacy and Geneva Office of the Human Rights House Foundation (HRHF).

Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, with (from his left) Florian Irminger, Tetiana Pechonchyk, Alexandra Delemenchuk, Vadym Pyvovarov and Oleksandra Matviychuk.

Members of the Human Rights House Kyiv in their meeting with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe raised the worrying situation of missing people and the continued use of ill-treatment and torture against detained people.

They also held a press conference congratulating PACE for the adoption of the resolution but calling for further action, including of the Secretary General and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

Continued human rights violations by police forces

Alexandra Delemenchuk and Oleksandra Matviychuk from the Centre for Civil Liberties underlined that the Euromaidan SOS is still receiving phone calls and information from people beaten by police. “The use of violence in the country has not stopped and nobody should believe that political changes have yet had an impact on the reality on the ground,” says Alexandra Delemenchuk.

“Police aims at hurting and harming,” says Vadym Pyvovarov from the Association of Ukrainian Human Rights Monitors on Law-Enforcement. He underlines that the situation is extremely worrying in the regions of the country, where local authorities are ordering violence against any protestor. Furthermore, “police forces are now also working with bandit groups, which they train and prepare” he adds.

The killing of 5 people, hundreds arrested and many more beaten and hurt comes along the proven willingness of police forces to attack media workers and journalists. “At the beginning of the movement, journalists used to wear very visible signs to indicate the nature of their presence,” says Tetiana Pechonchyk from the Human Rights Information Centre. “Now, they hide those signs as otherwise they are targets.”

Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

In her statement of 31 January 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay reported that she was “appalled by the deaths reported in recent days in Kiev, which should be promptly, thoroughly and independently investigated. [She is] also calling for an investigation into reports of kidnappings and torture.”

“The top voice for human rights in the world should have made the responsability of the State very clear, as well as of those giving orders of human rights violations of the scale of which we see in Ukraine,” reacted Florian Irminger. The High Commissioner indeed does not refer to the steps taken by Ukrainian authorities escalating the confrontation and the violence. In addition, it is surprising to hear the High Commissioner call upon protestors to “create conditions for dialogue and reconciliation.”, given the circomstances and the way authorities talk about protestors. “We call for a strong involvement of the United Nations on the ground and for their officials to make their voice heard clearly against the violations taking place in Ukraine,” added Florian Irminger.

PACE resolution:

The resolution, based on a report by Mailis Reps (Estonia) and Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin (Sweden) calls on police and protesters to refrain from any violence or actions that are clearly aimed at provoking a violent reaction from the other side, and underlines that the excessive and disproportionate use of force by the police, and other alleged violations of human rights “need to be fully and impartially investigated, addressed and remedied and the perpetrators brought to justice.”

Voting result | Adopted resolution | Adopted recommendation | Interviews with the co-rapporteurs | Debate (video) | Press conference of Ukrainian human rights defenders

Debate in French on Swiss Radio between MP Andreas Gross (Switzerland) and Florian Irminger, Head of advocacy and Human Rights House Foundation Geneva Office

Complete restriction to fundamental rights in Ukraine:

On 16 January 2014, the Ukrainian parliament adopted a law violating most fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly, as well as basic rights to associate and work for a non-governmental organisation, including the right to be a human rights defender. Those laws were repealed on 28 January 2014.

Human Rights House Network members and partners had called upon President Viktor Yanukovych to veto the law, which he did not do.

Related articles: