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Activism 2020: a Monitoring Report on Persecution of Activists and Human Rights Defenders

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Activism 2020: a Monitoring Report on Persecution of Activists and Human Rights Defenders Activism 2020: A MONITORING REPORT ON PERSECUTION OF ACTIVISTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS January–March 2020 Activism 2020: A Monitoring Report on Persecution of Activists and Human Rights Defenders in the Government-Controlled Territory of Ukraine (January–March 2020) / O. Dmitriev, A. Moskvy- chova, T. Pechonchyk; ZMINA. Kyiv, 2020, 32 p. The report has been prepared by the ZMINA Human Rights Centre as a part of the Increasing the Role and Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Ukraine project, in partnership with the Netherlands Helsinki Committee and with financial support by the European Union. The views of the report’s authors do not reflect the official position of the European Union. The ZMINA Human Rights Centre works in the field of protecting the freedom of speech, freedom of movement, opposing discrimination, preventing torture and cruel treatment, fighting impu- nity, supporting human rights defenders and activists in the Ukrainian territory, including the occupied Crimea, and defending the rights of people who have suffered from the armed con- flict. The organization conducts information campaigns, education programs, works to monitor and document cases of human rights violations, prepares studies and analyses, and achieves change through national and international advocacy. This publication may contain graphic depictions of incidents or victims of attacks or persecution which may shock, affect or provoke anxiety in some readers. See more details about the ZMINA Human Rights Centre and its activities at: https://org.zmina.info/ https://zmina.info/ Contacts for comments and suggestions Email: [email protected] Telephone: +380509750877 3 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................................4 METHODOLOGY: WHAT WE MONITORED AND HOW .....................................................................5 Object of the monitoring ......................................................................................................................5 Subject of the monitoring ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������6 Sources of information and verification standards ......................................................................7 Assumptions ............................................................................................................................................8 Safety ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������8 Authorship ................................................................................................................................................8 SITUATION AND TRENDS: JANUARY–MARCH 2020 .........................................................................9 Geographical distribution ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9 Types of persecution �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10 Types of activities ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 10 TRENDS Effects of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic on activism and human rights activities ......................................................................... 12 Discreditation of activism and the campaign against the Sorosiata (“Soros kids”) ............................................................................... 12 A change in the leadership of the Prosecutor General’s Office and its effect on investigations of attacks against activists ................................... 13 Threats of legal restrictions of the freedom of unions and associations and bills on lobbying ........................................................................... 14 BRIEF OVERVIEW OF INCIDENT .............................................................................................................. 16 4 моніторингова доповідь щодо переслідувань активістів і правозахисників Активізм 2020 січень–березень 2020 року INTRODUCTION The team of the ZMINA Human Rights Centre gladly presents a monitoring report on the pressure and persecution of activists in the 1st quarter of 2020, created as a part of the Increasing the Role and Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Ukraine project, which ZMINA implements in partner- ship with the Netherlands Helsinki Committee with financial support by the European Union. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the situation with persecution of and pressure on public ac- tivists in January–March 2020, to describe the new incidents and newly discovered circumstances in older cases of attacks against human rights defenders which became known in this period. Given the existence of an urgent problem of protecting civil society actors and the discovery of gaps in legislation and the work of law enforcement agencies, the main purpose of this report is to provide full and up-to-date information about the situation with persecution of and pressure on human rights defenders and activists to representatives of the government, media, international missions and partners, and the wider public. In the context of decentralization, mobilization of efforts in the solidarity struggle against the con- sequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, socioeconomic perturbations, the topic of persecution of activists and human rights defenders, as well as impunity for this persecution, has been gaining in- creased relevance for the promotion and advocacy of human rights standards, monitoring of the government’s fulfillment of its obligations, and protection of social interests. We hope that the information described in the report will be useful for analyzing and drawing con- clusions about the security climate for human rights defenders and activists in the period in ques- tion. METHODOLOGY: WHAT WE MONITORED AND HOW 5 METHODOLOGY: WHAT WE MONITORED AND HOW The general monitoring methodology was based on the developed monitoring and documenting procedures1, approved by the Coalition for Protecting Civil Society and published on November 20, 2018; as well as on the updated monitoring and analysis methodology used in drafting the analyt- ical report The Situation of Human Rights Defenders and Civil Activists in Ukraine in 20192. The monitoring includes descriptions of the cases of attacks, persecution and pressure on human rights defenders and activists in the territories controlled by the Ukrainian government which took place in January–March 2020, as well as some newly discovered circumstances of the cases in- volving similar incidents in past periods. OBJECT OF THE MONITORING The object of the monitoring are the activities of Ukrainian human rights defenders and civil activ- ists, their associations and organizations, as defined by theGuidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights3 and the UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individ- uals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms4. Based on these documents, by “human rights defenders,” we mean any persons who, individu- ally or in cooperation with other people, promote and defend human rights, particularly advocate for civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, the rule of law, non-discrimination for any characteristic, regardless of their professional occupation or other status,5 who engage in these activities by peaceful means and recognize the universal nature of all human rights for all people (without any distinction by race, skin color, gender, language, religion, political or other beliefs, na- tional or social background, ownership of property, birth, age, or any other circumstance), and do not aim to promote corporate or business interests. Following the UN Human Rights Council Reso- lution, we will also focus our attention on the activists who are engaged in defending the rights of women and the LGBT community, environmental and land rights, corporate responsibility issues, representatives of patient organizations and initiatives, as well as those working on the issues of increasing transparency and accountability of government and local self-government bodies, ex- posing cases of corruption and use of violence for which the state, commercial structures and non-governmental actors are to blame. 1 Documenting Methodology of the Coalition for Protecting Civil Society – https://bit.ly/2xFTUPG 2 Analytical Report The Situation of Human Rights Defenders and Civil Activists in Ukraine in 2019 – https://bit.ly/3bCuHoc 3 Guidelines on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights – https://bit.ly/2wgPWwK 4 UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms – https://bit.ly/3dYdTtP 5 The information about attacks and pressure on political figures, officials, self-government representatives, attorneys and lawyers, journalists was taken into account in the cases when the motive for their persecution
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