By Brij Khindaria
Syria is grabbing headlines but continuing torture and human rights violations in eastern Ukraine must not be overlooked especially as the onset of winter and barriers to the work of humanitarian organizations could worsen the situation, says a new a United Nations report.
It puts blame on the Ukrainian regime as well as rebel administrations of the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ in eastern Ukraine.
An inflow continues of “ammunition, weaponry and fighters from the Russian Federation into the territories controlled by the armed groups, leaving the situation highly flammable,” the UN human rights report says.
It makes somber reading since Russian meddling in eastern Ukraine persists and the European Union is in disarray on how to deal with President Vladimir Putin as he is now a key player in Syria.
EU leaders must decide in January on whether to continue economic sanctions against Moscow. There is no prospect for tightening the sanctions mainly because the united front built by Germany’s Angela Merkel to impose the earlier penalties has fragmented.
She is losing ground in EU politics because of very sharp disagreements with other member countries on how to handle the millions of refugees from Syria and other economic migrants hammering on Europe’s doors. She needs cooperation from Russia and Turkey to alleviate this flood.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, a key player, is committed to holding a referendum in the summer of 2016 on whether to remain in the EU. Such an exit could begin the dismantlement of the post-World War II experiment in European unity.
These are among reasons why the EU cannot risk worsening relations with Moscow over Ukraine although President Barack Obama is lobbying intensively to keep Putin’s feet to the fire.
Nearly 9,100 people have been killed and 20,700 injured in the Ukraine conflict so far although hostilities have diminished in recent months. But serious human rights concerns persist including torture and an absence of rule of law in the east.
Impunity continues for perpetrators of human rights violations and the humanitarian situation remains difficult for internally displaced people and those living in the disputed areas.
“Elements of the Security Service of Ukraine appear to enjoy a high degree of impunity, with rare investigations into allegations involving them,” the report says.
It has documented cases of “enforced disappearance, arbitrary and incommunicado detention as well as torture and ill treatment of people suspected of trespassing against territorial integrity or terrorism or believed to be supporters” of the rebel eastern regions.
Accountability has yet to be achieved for the killing of protestors and other human rights violations committed during the Maidan events in Kyiv between November 2013 to February 2014, the report notes. There has also been no progress in ensuring accountability for the death of 48 people during the violence in Odesa in May 2014.
Injuries and deaths have fallen since September 2015 because the Ukrainian military and armed groups withdrew some heavy weapons.
New casualties including 47 civilians killed and 131 injured since mid-August resulted mostly from explosive remnants of war and improved explosive devices. This underlines “the urgent need for extensive mine clearance and mine awareness actions on both sides of the contact line”.
There are continuing serious human rights abuses against people in the territories controlled by the rebel administrations. These include killings, torture, ill-treatment, illegal detention and forced labor, lack of freedom of movement, assembly and expression.
“An estimated 2.9 million people living in the conflict area continued to face difficulties in exercising their economic and social rights, in particular access to quality medical care, accommodation, social services and benefits, as well as compensatory mechanisms for damaged, seized or looted property.”
The situation for an estimated 800,000 people living along both sides of the contact line has been particularly difficult.
The report also cites self-censorship and the inability of journalists to exercise their freedom of expression in the east. Restrictions against journalists by the Ukrainian Government also undermine freedom of expression.