19 May 2014

Navi Pillay calls on ‘those with influence’ to reign in pro-Russian groups in Eastern Ukraine

In a report released on 15 May, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) expressed its concern over the rising number of human rights violations by armed groups in eastern Ukraine. The report says that the actions and impunity of the armed groups ‘remain the major factor in causing a worsening situation for the protection of human rights’ and that ‘in most cases, local police did nothing to prevent violence, while in some cases it openly cooperated with the attackers.’

The UN is particularly concerned about the increasing amount of abductions and unlawful detentions that appear to target journalists and that are carried out by the pro-Russian Slovyansk unit. Furthermore, the UN refers to credible reports that pro-Russian activists were detained and transferred to Kiev by Ukraine’s security service in such a way that it amounts to forced abductions. A statement by Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said that those with influence over these groups should ‘do their utmost to rein in these groups who seem bent on tearing the country apart.’

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Source: The New York Times | U.N. Finds Rising Human Rights Violations in Ukraine
Source: OHCHR | Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine | 15 May 2014

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