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The credibility of the investigations into the killings and violence which occurred during the Euromaidan in Kiev failed to reach European standards, a panel of experts established by the Council of Europe said. We have repeatedly called upon the Ukrainian authorities to conduct investigations and hold those guilty accountable for human rights violations and crimes.

The 28th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council ended on Friday, 27 March 2015. It left civil society with mixed feelings; the Council did not address worrying human rights situations. However, they managed to establish new standards, in particular on the protection of privacy.

At the occasion of the presentation by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on minority issues of her report on Ukraine, the Human Rights Council discussed the situation of minorities in Ukraine, especially in regard to the developments in Crimea since February 2014.

Crimes committed during Euromaidan in November 2013 – February 2014 led to at least 114 deaths, including 94 Euromaidan activists, imprisonment for different terms of at least several hundreds of people, physical injuries to over a thousand of activists. The fate of 27 missing persons is still unknown, according to report.

The Prague Civil Society Centre is established to support civil society and human rights defenders in Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia. “Civil society in the region has tremendous potential yet it is under growing pressure“, says the Centre’s director Rostislav Valvoda.

International conference with a focus on the human rights situation in Ukraine.

The Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, Michel Forst, is to present his first report to the General Assembly on 23 October 2014. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus, Miklós Harastzi, is to present a thematic report on human rights defenders in Belarus to the General Assembly.
This joint side-event aims at highlighting the role of human rights defenders in two neighbouring countries, Belarus and Ukraine.

Addressing the crisis in Ukraine, which is the result of the violent repression of peaceful protestors from end of November 2013 to February 2014 by the Ukrainian government, will need full accountability for human rights violations on all sides. The sense of impunity continues to grow in the country, as investigations into killings of EuroMaidan protestors are still awaited and those holding arms in Eastern Ukraine enjoy a sort of immunity sponsored by the Russian Federation for their crimes.

We expect you Mr High Commissioner to always be principled and vocal, avoid double-standards, and hold powerful States as accountable for human rights violations as those you might identify as friendly ones. We see a worrisome trend in the Office of the High Commissioner to neglect human rights violations in Europe. We strongly welcome though the work done by your Office since April in Ukraine.