Section: Human Rights Watch (USA)
The Crossing
I get out of bed at 5 a.m., just as the curfew is being lifted in Donetsk, the capital of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) in eastern Ukraine. It’s pitch dark outside and I feel privileged — really and truly privileged — to be able to afford to pay $25 for three extra hours of sleep and a significant risk reduction....
Ukraine: Dangers, Unnecessary Delays at Crossing Points
(Kyiv) – Ukrainian civilians are exposed to risks to their health and safety – even grave danger – as they face endless waits when they need to go back and forth across the contact line between government-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine and the separatist-held Luhansk and Donetsk regions, Human Rights Watch said today. Lack of adequate...
Ukraine: Activists ‘Disappeared’ in Separatist Territory
(Kyiv) – А Russian lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) activist and another person have been missing since January 31, 2017, in the separatist-controlled area of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, and are feared to be victims of enforced disappearances, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch is concerned that the de...
‘Grad Rockets’ Return to Eastern Ukraine?
As fighting has flared up between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine over these past two days, we have spoken to people trapped on both sides of the line of contact. “Here we go again,” groans a friend in separatist-controlled Donetsk. “Just as you get used to the relative quiet, it’s Groundhog Day all over...
Crimea: Defense Lawyers Harassed
(Kyiv) – Russian authorities have detained two human rights lawyers who represent prominent Crimean Tatar leaders, Human Rights Watch said today. The lawyers’ clients are being prosecuted on politically motivated charges in retaliation for their activism. Emil Kurbedinov, who was detained on January 26, 2017, and Nikolai Polozov, detained...
A Glimmer of Light for Transgender People in Ukraine
In the past, transgender people in Ukraine who wanted to have their identified gender legally recognized faced a degrading, years-long obstacle course of psychiatric observation, sterilization, and other horrors. But change is on the way, as the government introduces new rules that stem some of the worst abuses of the old system. Expand...
Joint HRW and AI Statement on Detention-Related Abuses in the Context of the Armed Conflict in Ukraine
Impunity for detention-related abuses in the context of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine continues by both Ukraine’s government and on Russia-backed separatists in Donbass. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch reiterate their call on both parties to put an end to this deplorable situation, stop all arbitrary and secret...
Ukraine: Armed Conflict-Related Abuse in Detention
(Kyiv) – Both sides in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine have detained and abused people with complete impunity, Human Rights Watch said today at a joint press conference with Amnesty International in Kyiv. In a statement released in Kyiv jointly with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch reiterated its call for the Ukraine government and...
Ukraine: TV Channel Ordered Banned
(Kyiv) – An order from Ukrainian authorities banning the Russian independent television channel Dozhd TV (TV Rain) from broadcasting on Ukrainian cable networks violates freedom of expression and should be revoked, Human Rights Watch said today. In Russia, Dozhd TV is accessible only by streaming it over the internet since the Russian authorities...
Ukraine
The situation in eastern Ukraine remained tense in 2016 despite the Minsk II Agreements forged a year earlier that called for a ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons by all sides. Civilians in both Ukrainian and Russia-backed separatists’ detention were subjected to serious abuses. Abuses in conflict-affected areas remain largely...
