Section: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (Ukraine)
Suspended sentence for the savage murder of Maidan journalist Viacheslav Veremiy
The first and only trial so far over the fatal attack on journalist Viacheslav Veremiy during Euromaidan has ended in a four-year suspended sentence with a two-year probation period passed on Yury Krysin for his undisputed part in the killing. Judge Oleh Linnyk from the Shevchenkivsk Court in Kyiv, ignored the prosecutor’s call for a...
UN hammers Russia over human rights abuse in illegally occupied Crimea
The UN General Assembly has passed a vital resolution on the human rights situation in Crimea which recognizes that Russia’s illegal occupation is an international armed conflict and gives victims of abuse wider scope to defend their rights. Ukrainian human rights organizations played a major role in drawing up the document which refers to...
In Memory: Arseny Roginsky
Arseny Roginsky, Soviet political prisoner & Chairman of the International Memorial Society has died at the age of 71 after a life spent in “the struggle for historical truth and human rights”. His colleagues write that it would be hard to imagine Memorial over the nearly 30 years of its existence without Arseny Borisovich, and inconceivable...
Russia confirms ban on independent journalists & freedom of speech in occupied Crimea
The High Court in Russian-occupied Crimea has upheld the two and a half year suspended sentence passed on 67-year-old Ukrainian journalist Mykola Semena for expressing the position of the UN, EU, Council of Europe and international community regarding Russia’s occupation of Crimea. …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
Crimean Tatar political prisoner Bekir Degermendzhy is dangerously ill
After causing the death of 83-year-old veteran Crimean Tatar activist Vedzhie Kashka, Russia is endangering the life of 57-year-old Bekir Degermendzhy, arrested as part of a particularly cynical FSB attempt to discredit the Crimean Tatar Mejlis. …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
New draft law proposes up to 5-year sentence for denying Russian aggression against Ukraine
A new draft bill criminalizing denial of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine has been strongly criticised by human rights activists for several reasons, including its authors’ failure to take into consideration the persecution Ukrainians living under occupation in Crimea or Donbas face simply for using words like...
What Ukrainians Really Think: 10 Key Insights from Ukraine’s 2017 Opinion Polls
A close examination of a range of recent national opinion polls—on topics like corruption, the health care system, migration, and Russia—show that the Ukrainian public is less optimistic and West-centric than the country’s leaders. Additionally, there is a wide gap in opinions between the residents of different regions, and between various...
Council of Europe will share responsibility for grave human rights violations if it gives in to Russia now
Crimean Tatar leaders, the sister of Russia’s youngest Ukrainian political prisoner and prominent Ukrainian human rights organizations have warned the Council of Europe against compromising its own values by giving in to pressure from Russia. There can be no grounds for reinstating Russia’s voting rights within the Parliamentary...
Russia’s Media Monitor Moves To Block Websites Of ’Undesirable’ Organizations
Russia’s Roskomnadzor media regulatory agency has begun blocking access to websites of organizations deemed “undesirable” by the Justice Ministry under a 2015 law aimed at restricting the activity of organizations the Kremlin accuses of fomenting political dissent. …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
Ukrainian Reform Activists Derail Effort To ’Destroy’ Anticorruption Body
Ukrainian activists and reformist lawmakers worked tirelessly overnight to remove a bill from parliamentary consideration that they say would “destroy”the country’s only independent investigative body by dismissing its chief. …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
