WHITE BOOK ON VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RULE OF LAW IN UKRAINE (APRIL 2014 — MID-JUNE 2014) OBL_Belaya kniga2_Eng.indd 1 08.07.2014 16:05:26 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation WHITE BOOK ON VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE RULE OF LAW IN UKRAINE (APRIL 2014 — MID-JUNE 2014) Moscow June 2014 Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................. 5 Violations of human rights and the principle of the rule of law in the course of the so-called ‘anti-terrorist operation’ ............................... 7 Violations of the right to freedom of thought and belief, including political beliefs; the intimidation and kidnapping of political opponents .................................................................................29 Restrictions on freedom of the media and journalist activities............................................................................... 41 Tragedy in Odessa ...................................................................................... 51 The Snipers’ Case: a mock investigation, violation of the right to the presumption of innocence and of the right to a fair trial ....................................................................... 61 Ethnic and linguistic discrimination, xenophobia and aggressive nationalism. Instigation of racism ..................................... 67 Manifestations of religious intolerance, including threats to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate .................. 74 Conclusion ..................................................................................................79 Introduction 5 Introduction After the publication of the first edition of the ‘White Book’ which summarized multiple factual violations of human rights and of the rule of law in Ukraine from the end of November 2013 to the end of March 2014, the political crisis in that country has gained momentum. A lack of willingness from the de-facto Kiev authorities to respect the legitimate interests of south-eastern Ukraine, and their tendency to speak with local people who come up with legitimate demands from a position of force, resulted in the further escalation of the intra-Ukrainian crisis. Carrying out a so-called ‘anti-terrorist operation’ — a retaliatory operation in fact — announced by the self-proclaimed Kiev authorities was followed by a dramatic increase in the number of serious human rights violations. As well as ‘post-Maidan’ human rights violations in Ukraine (violating the right to freedom of expression and restrictions on the freedom of the media, manifestations of extremist, ultra-nationalist and neo- Nazi sentiments, religious intolerance and xenophobia, the intimidation of political opponents, their ‘cleansings’ and arrests, repressions and physical violence), there are new problems such as the violation of the norms of international humanitarian law by Kiev, reflected by the use of heavy weaponry and military aircraft during the retaliatory operation in the east of the country that resulted in a large number of victims among civilians, the problem of internally-displaced persons and refugees, including children, and a difficult humanitarian situation in general. We could not turn a blind eye to the horrible tragedy in Odessa on May 2 when, under the watch of local authorities, dozens of people were brutally murdered by Ukrainian ultra-nationalist and neo-Nazi militants. The only guilt these people had was that they had different political views on the future of Ukraine. Still, none of the people who committed this insidious crime has been punished yet. White book on violations of human rights 6 and the rule of law in Ukraine We would like to hope that the investigation initiated by the Kiev authorities would not be protracted or politicized as happened with the so-called ‘sniper case’, when destructive fire in Kiev in February 2014 resulted in the same unidentified snipers killing both protesters and law-enforcement officers. All these issues were reflected in the second edition of the ‘White Book’ on Ukraine. However, we did not set a difficult task of reflecting all the tragic events that happened in this country. Nevertheless, the facts cited are enough to come to the discouraging conclusion that Ukraine has faced the gravest human rights challenges to which Ukrainian authorities cannot yet provide adequate responses. This study covers the period from April to mid-June 2014. Just as in the first edition, the results of a thorough monitoring of Ukrainian, Russian and some Western media; remarks and statements made by the Kiev authorities and their supporters; numerous evidences, including those posted on the Internet, as well as the materials collected by the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, the Information Group of Crimes against the Person and the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, were used as a factual basis. Excerpts from the fundamental international instruments on human rights, whose universal provisions and norms have been violated in Ukraine during the indicated period, precede each section of this study. As before, we believe that the main task of the second edition of the ‘White Book’ is to focus attention on the facts of the international community and key international human rights bodies, as well as relevant non-governmental organizations which have not yet shown proper and impartial attention to these issues. Violations of human rights and the principle of the rule of law in the course of the so-called ‘anti-terrorist operation’ 7 Violations of human rights and the principle of the rule of law in the course of the so-called ‘anti-terrorist operation’ The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. Article 13. 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. 2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. Article 14. 1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. 2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. White book on violations of human rights 8 and the rule of law in Ukraine International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) Article 6. Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life. Article 7. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 20. Any propaganda for war should be prohibited by law. Article 26. All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984) Article 1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term ‘torture’ means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions. Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (1950) Article 2. Everyone's right to life shall be protected by law. No one shall be deprived of his life intentionally save in the execution of a sentence of a court following his conviction of a crime for which this penalty is provided by law. Article 3. No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 5. Right to liberty and security Violations of human rights and the principle of the rule of law in the course of the so-called ‘anti-terrorist operation’ 9 1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be deprived of his liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law: a) the lawful detention of a person after conviction by a competent court; b) the lawful arrest or detention of a person for non-compliance with the lawful order of a court or in order to secure the fulfillment of any obligation prescribed by law; c) the lawful arrest or detention of a person effected for the purpose of bringing him before the competent legal authority on reasonable suspicion of having committed an offence or when it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent his committing an offence or fleeing after having done so; d) the detention of a minor by lawful order for the purpose of