FALLING THROUGH the CRACKS: Improving Ukraine’S Assistance to Conflict-Affected Civilians ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION and VISION
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FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS: Improving Ukraine’s Assistance to Conflict-Affected Civilians ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION AND VISION Center for Civilians in Confict (CIVIC) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the protection of civilians caught in conflict. CIVIC’s mission is to work with armed actors and civilians in conflict to develop and implement solutions to prevent, mitigate, and respond to civilian harm. Our vision is a world where parties to armed conflict recognize the dignity and rights of civilians, prevent civilian harm, protect civilians caught in conflict, and amend harm. CIVIC was established in 2003 by Marla Ruzicka, a young humanitarian who advocated on behalf of civilians afected by the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Building on her legacy, CIVIC now operates in conflict zones throughout the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and South Asia to advance a higher standard of protection for civilians. At CIVIC, we believe that parties to armed conflict have a responsibility to prevent and address civilian harm. To accomplish this, we assess the causes of civilian harm in particular conflicts, craft practical solutions to address that harm, and advocate the adoption of new policies and practices that lead to the improved wellbeing of civilians caught in conflict. Recognizing the power of collaboration, we engage with civilians, governments, militaries, and international and regional institutions to identify and institutionalize strengthened protections for civilians in conflict. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Iryna Solomko, a Ukrainian journalist, working with CIVIC’s Ukraine team, including Liza Baran, Country Director; Sergii Doma, Sr. Military Advisor; and Victoria Vdovychenko, Policy & Advocacy Advisor, authored this report, with significant support from Anton Shevchenko and Adrian Bonenberger. Research was conducted by Anton Shevchenko, Serhiy Karpenko, and Olena Tanasiychuk. The report was reviewed by: Beatrice Godefroy, Europe Director; Shannon Green, Sr. Director, Programs; Tazreen Hussain, Gender Advisor; Piper Hendricks, Senior Communications Manager; Marc Linning, Sr. Protection Advisor; and Lee Sutton, Sr. Advisor for Monitoring & Evaluation. CIVIC is grateful for assistance from Ukrainian organizations and institutions including NGO Proliska, MineSafe Ukraine, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Group, Truth Hounds, Right to Protection, Center for Psychosocial Adaptation of Victims of the Conflict in Ukraine (Mariupol), NGO Vostok (East) SOS, Federation of Greek Communities of Ukraine, ACTED, REACH Initiative, Crisis Media Center “Siverskiy Donets,” NGO Fundatsia Prostir, Civil Society Advisors to the Ministry of Social Policy in the three districts, Head of the Civil Society Council at Donetsk Oblast Administration, and a Severodonetsk journalist. RECOGNIZE. PREVENT. PROTECT. AMEND. PROTECT. PREVENT. RECOGNIZE. This publication has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents MAY 2019 of this publication are the sole responsibility of CIVIC and can under no circumstances be regarded as COVER Maria Horpynych, a Ukrainian civilian in reflecting the position of the European Union. The report was made possible by a generous grant from Opytne, a village approximately two kilometers the European Union’s Instrument for Stability and Peace. from the Donetsk airport, has been living through the conflict for more than five years. She holds a picture of her only son, a medic, who died in 2016 after being struck in the head by shell fragments. “I buried my son in a garden, in a crater from a shell. It was impossible to bury him at the cemetery, T +1 202 558 6958 because the so-called DNR artillery were shooting there so much. Everything was fine before the E [email protected] war, but now I don’t have anything.” Maria’s story civiliansinconfict.org appears throughout this report. Andriy Dubchak iii GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS TABLE OF CONTENTS AFU Armed Forces of Ukraine Organizational Mission and Vision iii ATO Anti-Terror Operation Glossary of Terms and Acronyms iv CCTPG Civilian Casualty Tracking Provisional Group Executive Summary 3 CIMIC Civil-Military Cooperation Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Recommendations 5 CIVIC Center for Civilians in Conflict EECP Entry-Exit Checkpoints Methodology 8 FGD Facilitated Group Discussions Background 11 GCA Government-Controlled Areas National Government Institutions: Overlapping Mandates 12 IDP Internally Displaced Persons and Antiquated Methods IHL International Humanitarian Law Findings from the Perspective of Civilians on National Government 21 JFC Joint Force Commander Military-Civil Administration: Ready and Willing, But Not Able 23 JFO Joint Force Operation Findings from the Perspective of Civilians on Local Government 27 JOHQ Joint Operations Headquarters Civil-Military Cooperation: Prospects for Improvement 29 MOD Ministry of Defense Findings From The Perspective of Civilians About The Military and CIMIC 32 MOH Ministry of Health MOI Ministry of Interior Recommendations 33 MRA Ministry for Refugees and Accommodations (Georgia) Conclusion 34 MSP Ministry of Social Policy Annex A: Questionnaire for JFO Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC) Officers 35 MTOT Ministry of the Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Annex B: Questionnaire for Local Officials 36 MVA Ministry of Veterans’ Affairs (District and City Military-Civil Administrations) NGO Non-Governmental Organization Annex C: Questionnaire for National Government Institutions 37 OCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Annex D: Questionnaire for Facilitated Group Discussions/ 38 POC Protection of Civilians Dialogues with Civil Society Actors Working in the JFO Zone SBU Security Service of Ukraine (Sluzhba Bezpeky Ukrayiny) 1 25° 30° 35° 40° BELARUS RUSSIAN FEDERATION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Pinsk UKRAINE Homyel' a n Pr s ipyats' e D Kursk Regular artillery shelling, small arms fire, fields filled with which has taken the lead in coordinating eforts to Shostka UKRAINE Lublin Chernihiv Kovel' unexploded ordnance, active land mines, illness, lack better focus Ukrainian military personnel on civilian CHERNIHIV Konotop Chornobyl' of food, unsanitary living conditions, insufcient wood protection. To the full extent of its legal authority, CIMIC POLAND VOLYN Nizhyn SUMY Sumy a RIVNE Korosten' isl Luts'k and coal for winter – these are daily challenges facing has proactively sought positive change. Through the W ZHYTOMYR Belgorod S Rivne Romny a Pryluky n Novohrad- Volyns'kyi civilians living along the contact line in eastern Ukraine. work of CIMIC (with CIVIC’s support), the Commander 50 Brovary 50 ° Kyiv ° L’VIV la Przemysl´ u Civilians there have regular exposure to the Ukrainian of the Joint Force Operations (JFO) signed the L'viv Zhytomyr S Kharkiv a l Berdychiv KYIV k s C Lubny r military, sporadic visits from local and international Order “On establishment of the Provisional Group on A Ternopil' D POLTAVA o Bila V R Drohobych KHMELNYTSKY n Kremenchuts'ke LUHANS’K P Tserkva ip A Stryi ro Vdskh. Poltava KHARKIV T non-profits, and few – if any – interactions with local collecting and analyzing data on cases when civilians H TERNOPIL’ Cherkasy Izyum Starobil'sk SLOVAKIA Khmelnytsky Vinnytsya I A IVANO- Smila or national government. The fighting has scarred the were injured or killed,” which established the Civilian N Ivano-Frankivs'k CHERKASY Kremenchuk Kamianets- Lozova Uzhhorod Slovians'k FRANKIVS’K Podil's'kyi Uman' physical and social landscape of Donbas, shattering Casualty Tracking Provisional Group (CCTPG). “With Mukachevo M VINNYTSYA Pavlohrad Luhans'k O Dniprodzerzhyns'k Alchevs'k ZAKARPATTYA Chernivtsi D Kirovohrad buildings, pitting roads, and upending the lives of over the purpose to track and analyze civilian harm and U nis Horlivka Krasnyi te Zhovti Dnipropetrovs'k Luch N r KIROVOHRAD HUNGARY CHERNIVTSI R Vody DNIPROPETROVS’K T E Donets'k Shakhty one million Ukrainian citizens. Residents of the area thereby help to better prevent casualties among the P Makiyivka A S Pervomays'k ir . Kryvyi Rih I e Zaporizhzhya DONETS’K have seen their very existence transformed – from civilians” in the JFO zone, members of the CCTPG play t Bati N O Nikopol' Novocherkassk Marhanets' Taganrog S F MYKOLAYIV P mothers, fathers, children, farmers, factory workers, and an important role as protection actors in “support of the iv Rostov- M ODESA d. B na-Donu ROMANIA u Kahovske Iasi O h ZAPORIZHZHYA Mariupol' coal miners – to survivors of war internally displaced [military] commanders of the operational units.” Chisinau Vdskh. L Melitopol' P Berdyans'k D Mykolayiv in their own country. While the operational tempo r u t O National capital Nova Kakhovka V Kherson and intensity of hostilities vary, and recent months While these are steps in the right direction, the fact Capital of Autonomous Republic Odesa A KHERSON of Crimea and oblast' centre SEA OF AZOV RUSSIAN have seen a decline in civilian casualties, systemic remains that Ukraine still lacks a systematic approach City, town ulF shortcomings by state authorities still hamper eforts to or mechanism to assist civilians harmed in the conflict. Airport a G FEDERATION Karkinists'k Dzhankoy International boundary Galati Kerch provide urgently needed assistance to conflict-afected Izmayil AUTONOMOUS uban' Well-meaning foreign and domestic initiatives are ad 45 Braila Reni K 45 ° Autonomous Republic of Crimea REP. OF CRIMEA S ° t r a civilians. hoc and, by definition, insufcient.