Ukraine: UN deploys human rights monitors amid ‘troubling’ signs in east, Crimea

UN, 14 March 2014 – United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonovic, announced today the immediate deployment of a UN monitoring team throughout crisis-torn Ukraine to help establish the facts surrounding alleged human rights violations, including in Crimea, and serve to de-escalate tensions in the country. 

Speaking via video conference from Kiev, Mr. Šimonovic told reporters in New York that during his short visit to Ukraine, he had identified chronic human rights violations; some dating from the Soviet era, and others, such as excessive use of force and arbitrary detentions, having taken place in the wake of the popular protests that erupted in the country a few months ago. 


The newly deployed human rights monitoring team, which will be headed by Armen Harutyunyan, who is also the UN Regional Representative for Central Asia, will focus on current violations and, in that regard, he said “the situation is particularly troublesome in the eastern part of the country and in Crimea” he said. 

• “It also seems particularly dangerous that there are rumours about large-scale human rights violations,” said Mr. Šimonovic, noting that such innuendo was stoking concerns regarding outside military intervention. 

 He emphasized therefore that the UN monitoring team will investigate violations as they occur and prevent any cover up. It will also aim to prevent the use of rumours “or any incidents for manipulation, promotion of political agendas or to spread fear and insecurity in the country.” 

In an earlier press conference in Kiev, he said that what became clear very quickly during his discussions in Ukraine was the preponderance of competing narratives about what exactly has transpired in the country since November last year.
“Warning signs about systemic human rights violations were neglected for many years, including the concerns and recommendations of international human rights bodies,” he said.........etc.....http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47355&Cr=ukraine&Cr1=#.UyNeZ85ql5Y
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• Ukraine – UN human rights monitors deployed to assess recent and ongoing violations

KIEV/GENEVA (14 March 2014) – UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Šimonović on Friday announced the immediate deployment of a UN human rights monitoring team throughout Ukraine to help establish the facts surrounding human rights violations, including in Crimea, and serve to de-escalate tensions in the country.

“What became clear very quickly during our discussions in Ukraine was the preponderance of competing narratives about what exactly has transpired in the country since November last year,” Šimonović told a press conference in Kiev on the ninth day of his mission to the country.

“Without an independent, objective establishment of the facts and circumstances surrounding alleged human rights violations, there is a serious risk that these competing narratives could be manipulated for political ends, leading to divisiveness and incitement to hatred. The UN team, as an impartial player, will serve to establish the facts, thus helping prevent such manipulation and de-escalate tensions.”

Šimonović, the UN’s most senior human rights official in New York, said that chronic human rights violations were clearly among the major reasons for the unrest in Ukraine in recent months.

“Warning signs about systemic human rights violations were neglected for many years, including the concerns and recommendations of international human rights bodies,” he said. “There are serious concerns about the weakness of rule of law institutions, lack of accountability and ensuing impunity for human rights violations. Reports of torture and ill-treatment are also numerous.”

In the context of the recent protests in Kiev and elsewhere, Šimonović expressed deep concern about allegations of gross violations, such as excessive use of force and extra-judicial killings, including by snipers, torture, disappearances and arbitrary detentions.

• “I have personally met with one victim of a brutal beating whose scars, both physical and mental, were clearly visible,” he said. “The perpetrators of human rights violations against that individual and all other victims must be promptly brought to justice, whatever their background, status or affiliation, following independent, impartial and thorough investigations.”

Šimonović stressed that accountability was of utmost importance, not only for the victims of violations but also to restore the faith of the whole of Ukrainian society in its Government and institutions........etc............http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14372&LangID=E

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