It took frustratingly long to get there, but the European Court of Human Rights has effectively determined that Russia is an occupying state and has paved the way for multiple judgements over its violations of human rights in occupied Crimea

KHPG submits the full text of the Amicus Curiae, prepared by two Ukrainian and two Polish experts, sent to the European Court for consideration in the case of lifting the immunity of former MP Heorhiy Logvynsky, which follows from the immunity of his wife Hanna Yudkivska, a judge of the European Court of Human Rights.

Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) and European Prison Litigation Network (EPLN) welcome the robust decision taken today by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CM) regarding systemic problems in Ukrainian prisons.

The European Court of Human Rights’ Grand Chamber has decided to combine Ukraine’s interstate case against the Russian Federation over its actions in eastern Ukraine with two other cases, most importantly, that brought by the Netherlands against Russia over the downing by a Russian BUK missile of Malaysian airliner MH17

The European Court of Human Rights has found that Russia violated the right to a fair trial of three men because of the unwarranted use of ‘secret witnesses’ to convict them

FIDH and its partner organisation in Ukraine, the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG), submitted a 100-page Article 15 Communication to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the crimes committed against detainees trapped in prisons seized and controlled by anti-government forces in Eastern Ukraine.

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its partner organisation in Ukraine the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) submitted to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) an Article 15 Communication on war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in prisons seized and controlled by anti-government forces in Eastern Ukraine. On this occasion, our organisations publish a Q&A addressing the reasons behind this submission, the main findings and our main requests.

Almost seven years after Russia began its aggression against Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada has passed, in its first reading, draft bill 2689 enabling punishment for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including crimes that Russia is trying to claim fall under the Minsk Accords’ commitment on an amnesty

By imprisoning virtually all Crimean political prisoners in Russia, often thousands of kilometres from their homes, The Russian occupiers are not only persecuting Crimean Tatars and other Ukrainians for their religious or political views, or for their civic activism, but are devastating the lives of entire families

Former hostages tortured by Russian-controlled Donbas militants have added their voices to demands that Verkhovna Rada deputies finally pass a bill on fighting war crimes and crimes against humanity

? Ukrainian human rights groups and former hostages with chilling stories of torture and other crimes are calling on Ukrainian MPs to adopt a draft law No. 2689 that can put an end to virtual impunity for war criminals.

We are publishing a letter from the Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Roderick Liddell, in response to a request from the Government’s Agent before the ECtHR, Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine Ivan Lishchyna. This letter was declassified by the ECtHR and received at the request of a lawyer.

By Prof Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou (University of Liverpool), Editor-in-Chief of the European Convention on Human Rights Law Review.

Thousands of Polish citizens in 160 cities took to the streets on Wednesday evening to protest against a draft law aimed at crushing judicial independence in Poland and at silencing and / or punishing judges

Russia’s attempts to twist the factual details of its annexation of Crimea and human rights violations were emphatically rejected on 11 September during the public hearings in the Case of Ukraine vs. Russia re Crimea at the European Court of Human Rights

In the sixth year since Russia’s invasion of Crimea and military aggression in Donbas, Ukraine’s legislation can still not adequately punish perpetrators of horrific crimes against humanity and war crimes

The European Court of Human Rights has requested answers from the Russian Government in connection with two claims brought against Russia over the downing of Malaysian airliner MH17 over militant-controlled parts of Donbas on 17 July 2014

Almost five years have passed since Russia launched its military aggression against Ukraine, yet in all that time only one person has been convicted of a war crime.  While catching some of the worst war criminals is difficult, the main problem lies in glaring gaps in Ukrainian legislation which the government has been in no hurry to rectify. 

Ukraine has lodged a vital inter-state application with the European Court of Human Rights over Russia’s persecution of 71 Ukrainians illegally held prisoner in Russia or occupied Crimea.  It is the sixth inter-state application filed against Russia since its invasion of Crimea in early 2014, but the first to specifically address Russia’s ever increasing number of Ukrainian political prisoners, and the abductions, torture and other human rights violations committed against them and other Ukrainian

Ukraine is fed up with Russian airlines not paying the 5 billion UAH they owe for illegal flights to Crimea & plan to seek the arrest of the planes when they land in other countries. While hurdles are inevitable, the move will raise important – and uncomfortable – questions about appropriate measures against brazen violations of international law and sanctions.