Euromaidan SOS: Human Rights situation in Ukraine
The rights to life, liberty, and security of all people are fundamental human rights. That includes the right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. However, since the beginning of the Euromaidan movement, such violations of human rights by the Ukrainian authorities have become more intense and visible.
Ever since November 30th, 2013, the civil initiative Euromaidan SOS has provided legal assistance to over 400 protesters who had been arrested and detained in Kiev and elsewhere. A significant number of the arrested protesters were released without charge because lawyers and opposition deputies had managed to prove the absence of corpus delicti. In most cases there were reports of excessive force by the police. These cases can be separated in the following categories:
· Arrested protesters were beaten, tortured or humiliated by the police prior to being checked into local police stations;
· Arrested protesters were provided with neither legal help nor the ability to contact their relatives;
· Arrested protesters were not provided with necessary medical assistance and were presented in court in no condition to be fully aware of the proceeding.
The first cases of forced disappearances of the protesters occurred in January. Abducted people were severely beaten and tortured, physically and psychologically, and later left to die in the woods (in total three bodies were discovered with the explicit signs of torture, four people managed to survive and spent a significant amount of time in rehabilitation).
The first cases of forced disappearances of the protesters occurred in January. Abducted people were severely beaten and tortured, physically and psychologically, and later left to die in the woods (in total three bodies were discovered with the explicit signs of torture, four people managed to survive and spent a significant amount of time in rehabilitation).
There are still 134 missing people on the list of Euromaidan SOS. At least 121 people were killed during the protests or died in connection to them (including 17 law enforcement officers) and a thousand more were injured.
During clashes on the 21st of January, water-canons were used to disperse protesters. Due to the fact that the air temperature was -11°C, such actions of the police force can be classified as mass-torture. By the estimates of Euromaidan SOS, three people died afterwards from the complications of pneumonia.
However, the abuse of power by the Yanukovich régime was not only applied against the peaceful protesters, the privates and minor officers of his police force were subjected to inhuman treatment. According to OZON, a civil monitoring initiative, police guards spent an exorbitant amount of time outside in freezing temperatures (-15°C -20°C) without appropriate clothing, spent their leisure time in non-heated cars, and received no hot meals. As a result, 120 cases of heavy frostbites were recorded.
Since the occupation of Crimea, thirty five people have been forcedly disappeared, two were killed, and five are still missing. All the released people reported about physical or psychological tortures. However, two people were discovered to have been forcedly disappeared only after their release, thus the real number of people might differ.
