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26.04.17 | Freedom of conscience and religion

Crimean Tatar Ruslan Zeytullaev gets 12-year sentence to meet Russian FSB quota

Russian judges have done what they’re told and sentenced Crimean Tatar political prisoner Ruslan Zeytullaev to 12 years’ maximum security because the FSB needed an ‘organizer&rsqu... | detail
26.04.17 | Freedom of expression

Oleg Sentsov sends Moving Response to PEN America Freedom to Write Award

PEN America’s honouring of Ukrainian filmmaker and political prisoner Oleg Sentsov at its 2017 PEN Literary Gala would have been a very special event under any circumstances. It was made particularly poignant by the le... | detail
25.04.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

Russsian FSB radically changes the plot in its ‘Crimean saboteur’ trial

Nine months have passed since Russia tried vainly to convince the international community that Ukraine’s military had mounted armed ‘incursions’ on Russian-occ... | detail
25.04.17 | News from the CIS countries

Why Russian writer Boris Stomakhin is in prison, Zhirinovsky & Kadyrov in power

Boris Stomakhin, Andrei Bubeev and Rafis Kashapov are all serving prison sentences in Russia for articles or posts / reposts, criticising the Putin regime and Russia’s invasion of Crimea. In each ca... | detail
25.04.17 | Politics and human rights

Russia Funds and Manages Conflict in Ukraine, Leaks Show

The Surkov leaks confirm what many have long suspected: the Kremlin has orchestrated and funded the supposedly independent governments in the Donbas, and seeks to disrupt internal Ukrainian politics, making the task of rebuilding modern Ukraine impossi... | detail
24.04.17 | Freedom of conscience and religion

Jailed & refused urgently needed medical care for not collaborating with FSB

There are strong grounds for believing that Crimean Tatar political prisoner Arsen Dzhepparov has been in detention since April 2016 because of his refusal to act as an FSB informer. He is now being refu... | detail
24.04.17 | News from the CIS countries

Russia arrests Ukrainian ‘spy’ accused of looking for Russian soldiers in Donbas

Russia’s FSB has detained yet another Ukrainian on bizarre charges of ‘spying’ for the Ukrainian Defence Ministry – in both militant-occupied areas of Ukraine a... | detail
24.04.17 | Chronicle

OSCE Monitoring Mission patrol member killed in Luhansk oblast

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission observer was killed after the car he was traveling in hit a mine near the village of Pryshyb in the Luhansk region | detail
22.04.17 | Freedom of conscience and religion

Russian prosecutor demands 17 years for Crimean Tatar political prisoner Ruslan Zeytullaev

Looking gaunt and frail after 18 days without food, Ruslan Zeytullaev spoke from court on Friday, thanking all those Crimean Tatars and other Ukrainians who have expressed the... | detail
21.04.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

Russian FSB resorts to flagrant falsification to jail Ukrainian activist in Crimea

Well-known Russian lawyer Dmitry Dinze has warned a Crimean court that even under Russian legislation it faces criminal liability for imprisoning people on the basis of overtly ri... | detail
21.04.17 | News from the CIS countries

Russia reinstates darkest Soviet days by banning the Jehovah’s Witnesses

Russia’s Supreme Court has ignored the country’s Constitution and the decades of religious persecution under Soviet rule and banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses, labelling them ‘extremist... | detail
20.04.17 | News from the CIS countries

Russia refuses to investigate torture of Ukrainian it jailed in revenge for Euromaidan

Russia’s Supreme Court has rejected two cassation appeals against the overtly lawless imprisonment in Russia of a Ukrainian convicted of an unprovable ‘offence’ allegedly c... | detail
20.04.17 | News from the CIS countries

Russian Journalist, Putin Critic Dies After Severe Beating

A prominent Russian journalist known for articles criticizing Russia’s government and President Vladimir Putin has died at a hospital in St. Petersburg after being severely beaten by unknown assailants | detail
19.04.17 | Freedom of conscience and religion

Mustafa Dzhemiliev calls on Crimean Tatar political prisoner Ruslan Zeytullaev to end hunger strike

You cannot stir the conscience of those who have none. Primarily for that reason, Mustafa Dzhemiliev, veteran Crimean Tatar leader and former political priso... | detail
18.04.17 | The right to a fair trial

Supreme Court Candidate Exposed for Sentencing Innocent Man to Life Imprisonment

It is, of course, for the court to determine a man’s innocence, however in the case of life prisoner Volodymyr Panasenko, nobody has ever believed he is guilty. Now, after Panasenko has been in pris... | detail
18.04.17 | Freedom of conscience and religion

Crimean Tatar political prisoner punished in Russia for refusal to act as informer

Rustem Vaitov has been punished for refusing to inform on other prisoners and Russia is ignoring the European Court of Human Rights by imprisoning him, Ferat Saifullaev and Nuri Primov thousa... | detail
17.04.17 | Terrorism

Tortured to Death for Defending Ukraine’s Flag and Ukrainian Unity

It is three years since Volodymyr Rybak was abducted by Kremlin-backed militants when he tried to remove the flag of the so-called ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ from the seized Horlivka city council building. His torture... | detail
15.04.17 | Human Rights Violations associated with EuroMaidan

Suspected Maidan Killer & Three Other Ex-Berkut Officers Flee to Russia

In a move which was easily to be predicted and averted, a former ex-Berkut officer suspected of direct involvement in the killing of Maidan activists has been allowed to escape justice. Vitaly Honc... | detail
14.04.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

Batons & gunshots in new arrests of Crimean Tatars in occupied Crimea

Two Crimean Tatars have been jailed in Russian-occupied Crimea for so-called ‘propaganda of extremism’ after armed and masked officers, including from Putin’s ’Rozgvardiya’, b... | detail
14.04.17 | News from the CIS countries

Russia found in violation of the right to life over Beslan School attack

The European Court of Human Rights [ECHR] has found multiple violations of the right to life over Russia’s failure to take preventive measures against the terrorist attack on a school in Beslan in 2004 and over t... | detail
14.04.17 | The right to liberty and security

Ukrainian Prosecutor’s strange attempt to help Russian FSB foiled

Asylum-seeker Shakhban Isakov has been released from custody 10 days after a Ukrainian prosecutor demanded and obtained his arrest pending extradition despite serious grounds for believing he would be in danger if ... | detail
13.04.17 | Law enforcement agencies

Accomplice to Maidan journalist killing has ’magic’ effect on Ukrainian judges

Yury Krysin admits taking part in the fatal attack on journalist Viacheslav Veremiy during Euromaidan and has been convicted of numerous other violent crimes. Yet “Ukrainian judge... | detail
13.04.17 | Freedom of expression

Crimean Tatar placed on Russia’s List of Extremists & Deprived of Pension for Calling Crimea Ukraine

Suleiman Kadyrov has become the latest Ukrainian to be added to Russia’s ‘List of Terrorists and Extremists’ for openly calling Crimea par... | detail
12.04.17 | Freedom of expression

Pro-Ukrainian victim of savage attack faces ’extremism’ sentence for Crimea is Ukraine post

Ukrainian activist Ihor Movenko is facing criminal prosecution in Russian-occupied Crimea for so-called ‘extremism’, 7 months after a vicious attack o... | detail
12.04.17 | News from the CIS countries

Putin’s National Guard Cracks Down On Opposition Activists In Irkutsk

Although the official mission of the National Guard is to combat terrorism, many in Russia believe its true purpose is to protect Vladimir Putin and the government. | detail
11.04.17 | Against torture and ill-treatment

Kremlin-backed Donbas militants accuse Ukraine and USA of ‘terrorist’ killings

The self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ [DPR] and Russian media have given wide coverage to militant claims that the head of Ukraine’s counter-i... | detail
11.04.17 | Army

Russia breaches international law forcing Crimeans to serve in occupying army

Nearly 5 thousand young Crimeans are to be conscripted into Russia’s army in 2017, with Russia thus openly flouting the UN General Assembly and the Fourth Geneva Convention. For the first time since Russia invaded and annexed... | detail
11.04.17 | Terrorism

Why Did Putin Get Stuck in Eastern Ukraine?

Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine is now entering its fourth year, but there was a time when few expected it to last even four weeks. The virtually bloodless seizure of Crimea, which fell to Russian troops in early 2014 without a fight, led most observers to conclude that Ukraine was e... | detail
10.04.17 | Freedom of conscience and religion

Russia turns to closed courts for political prisoners in occupied Crimea

Courts in Russian-occupied Crimea have now begun banning relatives and friends from attending court hearings – the only chance many have of seeing the imprisoned men. Most incredibly, the FSB has now told a cour... | detail
10.04.17 | Freedom of expression

Russian media twist Bellingcat study to find Ukrainian Buk in Donbas before MH17

Incredibly, some Ukrainian websites have copy-pasted Russian propaganda media, including a website closely linked with the defence ministry, which deliberately distorted the findings of a new Bellingcat inves... | detail
09.04.17 | Politics and human rights

Russia’s war on George Soros goes global

In Russia there’s nothing new about accusing George Soros of trying to overthrow the government. But recently other authoritarian leaders around the world have also decided that the 86-year-old billionaire is the cause of all their troubles | detail
07.04.17 | Against torture and ill-treatment

Death of Ukraine’s most famous torture victim to be reinvestigated

A Kyiv court has ordered that the investigation into the sudden death in a Kyiv cell of Oleksandr Rafalsky be resumed | detail
07.04.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

2 Crimean Tatars on trial for a pre-annexation pro-Ukraine rally released under house arrest

Ali Asanov and Mustafa Degermendzhy are home with their families after almost two years in custody. Both are under house arrest and their surreal trial is cont... | detail
07.04.17 | Freedom of movement

European Parliament approves visa liberalization for Ukraine

It’s finally happened! The European Parliament on April 6 voted to lift visa requirements for Ukrainians wishing to travel to anywhere in the Schengen zone. | detail
06.04.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

Crimean supporters of Russian annexation jailed after criticizing ruling party

Journalist Alexei Nazimov and Alushta City Council deputy Pavel Stepanchenko have been held in custody in Russian-occupied Crimea for over 6 months. The charges keep changing, but the men... | detail
06.04.17 | News from the CIS countries

Mass persecution inevitable if Russia bans the Jehovah’s Witnesses as ’extremist’

Russia’s Supreme Court appears to be on the verge of banning the Jehovah’s Witnesses after a Justice Ministry application which claimed that this world ... | detail
06.04.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

Ukrainian jailed in occupied Crimea because someone with a different name is wanted by Interpol

Kabir Mohammad, a Ukrainian citizen originally from Afghanistan and his Ukrainian family have paid a high price for their attempted visit on September 14... | detail
05.04.17 | Politics and human rights

Freedom House: The False Promise of Populism

​Populists’ stunning electoral victories in Europe and the United States have shaken the post–Cold War order in Europe and Eurasia, but they could ultimately reinvigorate liberal democracy. | detail
04.04.17 | Freedom of expression

Russia ignores its own international agreements in trying journalist for saying Crimea is Ukraine

Russia is claiming that Mykola Semena sought to violate Russia’s territorial integrity in a text opposing Russian annexation, although it has never withdrawn from inter... | detail
03.04.17 | On refugees

Ukraine re-arrests asylum-seeker in danger if extradited to Russia

A Ukrainian court has ordered the detention, pending extradition, of Shakhban Isakov, an asylum-seeker whom Russia wants to prosecute on the same dubious charges as those Russia has brought against two renowned Crimean Tatar leaders, both Ukraini... | detail
03.04.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

Russia taken to human rights court over ban on Crimean Tatar Mejlis

Russia’s ban on the Crimean Tatar Mejlis [representative assembly] has been formally challenged at the European Court of Human Rights, with the Mejlis represented by prominent Ukrainian and Russian human... | detail
03.04.17 | News from the CIS countries

Rights Groups Says Police Detain 59 At Opposition Protest In Moscow

The arrests come a week after more than 1,000 were arrested during a demonstration organized by leading Kremlin critic and anticorruption activist Aleksei Navalny. | detail
31.03.17 | Politics and human rights

Arrest warrant on ex-Ukrainian PM culminates Russia’s most cynical torture-based political trial

A Russian court has issued an ‘arrest warrant’ on ex-Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, claiming that he was placed on the international wan... | detail
31.03.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

Crimean Tatar activist jailed for video posted 7 years ago in new wave of repression

Remzi Bekirov has been jailed for three days in an escalating offensive against Crimean Tatars who actively report on repression in Russian-occupied Crimea. It is doubtless in... | detail
30.03.17 | News from the CIS countries

Ukrainian is serving 12 years in Russia for photograph of deserted aerodrome

On March 10 Viktor Shur spent his 60th birthday in a Russian maximum security prison, far from his family in Ukraine. He has been imprisoned in Russia since Dec 9, 2014, with his alleged ‘espionage’... | detail
30.03.17 | Terrorism

Crimean Tatar activist abducted by masked men from outside court

Belyal Adilov was seized by men in camouflage gear and masks from outside the High Court in Russian-occupied Crimea on March 29 in the latest attempt to terrorize Crimean Tatars and deter them from showing solidarity with victims of persecution | detail
30.03.17 | News from the CIS countries

PEN America honors Oleg Sentsov with 2017 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award

PEN America announced on March 29 that it will honor imprisoned Ukrainian writer and filmmaker Oleg Sentsov with the 2017 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award at its annual Literary Gala on April 25 | detail
29.03.17 | Freedom of conscience and religion

From torture to solitary confinement for a letter in Crimean Tatar

Teymur Abdullaev, one of 19 Crimean Muslims held illegally in indefinite detention in Russian-occupied Crimea has been placed in a punishment cell for writing a letter to his family in Crimean Tatar. The guards considered t... | detail
29.03.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

New attack on Crimean Tatar rights lawyer Emil Kurbedinov

Crimean Tatar rights lawyer Emil Kurbedinov has been summoned for questioning and informed he is facing a preliminary criminal investigation on absurd charges. This is the latest overt offensive against Kurbedinov and other lawye... | detail
29.03.17 | News from the CIS countries

Continuing crackdown and police violence in Belarus

The Civic Solidarity movement condemns mass detentions and police violence against peaceful demonstrators, calls for a strong reaction by the international community | detail
28.03.17 | Social and economic rights

Poroshenko signs anti-Maidan law against NGOs & journalists fighting corruption

President Poroshenko has signed into law a dangerous bill which could be used to put pressure on NGOs, investigative journalists or activists, especially those most actively seeking to expose and eradicate... | detail
28.03.17 | The right to liberty and security

Kremlin-backed militants free blogger accused of ’extremism’, others still held hostage for pro-Ukrainian stand

53-year-old Hennady Benitsky has been released several months after being seized by militants from the so-call... | detail
28.03.17 | News from the CIS countries

New Kids on the Block: A Younger Generation Invigorates Anti-Kremlin Protests

In spontaneity and sprawl, the weekend protests across Russia were reminiscent of large anti-Kremlin rallies in 2011-2012 that were followed by a steady tightening of government control over the political lan... | detail
27.03.17 | News from the CIS countries

Russian state TV in absurd denial over thousand-strong protests, mass arrests

State-controlled media in Russia proved considerably easier to control than the tens of thousands of citizens on March 26 who joined anti-corruption protests called by Alexei Navalny, despite the likelihood o... | detail
26.03.17 | News from the CIS countries

EU must reinstate sanctions after Belarusian dictator’s violent crushing of Freedom Day protests

If the Belarusian authorities hoped to prevent their crushing of Freedom Day protests being monitored by detaining 57 international observers, they should hav... | detail
24.03.17 | Terrorism

Russia’s weapons of Ukraine’s destruction were not "found in Donbas mines"

Russia’s claim at the Hague that the Donbas militants were using Soviet weapons found hidden (together with 700 tanks?) in mines did not get the attention it warranted. The Western media have largely op... | detail
24.03.17 | Politics and human rights

Killing of Kremlin whistle-blower Voronenkov removes vital witness for Ukraine

While it remains unproven who carried out the brazen killing of ex-Russian MP Denis Voronenkov in Kyiv on March 23 or why, it is certainly true that Ukraine has lost a valuable witness willing to give damagin... | detail
23.03.17 | Freedom of expression

Menacing FSB interrogations of Ukrainian Cultural Centre activists in Russian-occupied Crimea

Four members of the Ukrainian Cultural Centre have faced FSB interrogation in a move that seems clearly aimed at intimidation and at labelling any pro-Ukrainian activities, however u... | detail
23.03.17 | Human Rights Violations associated with EuroMaidan

Parliament pass law that could help Yanukovych avoid justice while hurting Ukrainians

It is unlikely that President Petro Poroshenko will veto a law that he has himself lobbied for, but that is precisely what civic activists are demanding. Draft law No. 5... | detail
23.03.17 | News from the CIS countries

Open Letter to the President of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenka

We, 48 undersigned organizations from 24 countries, strongly condemn the continuing wave of detentions and harassment of peaceful protesters, journalists, human rights defenders, civil society activists, anarchists and opposition party members in Belarus. | detail

articles

20.04.17 | Terrorism

UN Court at the Hague orders Russia to stop persecuting Crimean Tatar Mejlis

The International Court of Justice’s decision on April 19 on Ukraine’s suit against Russia may have rejected one request for provisional measures, but its intercession on behalf of Crimean Tatars and other Ukrainians... | detail
12.04.17 | Terrorism

Russian war crimes in Ukraine are of interest, Mr Tillerson

Exactly 3 years ago, former Russian military intelligence officer Igor Girkin, with heavily armed Russian and pro-Russian militants seized Sloviansk in the Donetsk oblast, beginning a Russian-funded, armed and manned war that has continued to this day | detail
05.04.17 | The right to a fair trial

Old tricks mar hopes for a renewed Supreme Court in Ukraine

How can you believe in a transparent and fair competition for new Supreme Court judges when the goalposts shift in the middle of the game? When the criteria for selecting only the strongest candidates have been fixed, yet 43 candidates who didn&r... | detail
05.04.17 | Freedom of conscience and religion

Crimean Tatar political prisoner declares hunger strike

Ruslan Zeytullaev, one of the first men tried for unproven involvement in an organization which is legal in Ukraine has demanded an end to persecution of his people, and announced a hunger strike until specific demands are met. Zeytullaev addres... | detail
04.04.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

Blacklist exposes judges involved in political persecution in Russian-occupied Crimea

The Crimea Human Rights Group has collated important information about all judges involved in illegally imprisoning Ukrainian citizens in Russian-occupied Crimea. The blackl... | detail
03.04.17 | Analysis of the human rights situation in Ukraine

Human rights in Ukraine in 2016: main trends

The Ukrainian people under trying circumstances defend their freedom. Our war is just, and therefore we cannot be like the aggressor, with whom we are fighting. During the war the wounds in human souls are inevitable. But let not our hands to cause the... | detail
16.03.17 | Freedom of movement

Poroshenko law could strip huge numbers of Ukrainians of their citizenship

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has tabled as urgent a draft law which would automatically strip Ukrainians of their citizenship if they voluntarily took on citizenship of another country | detail
10.03.17 | Freedom of conscience and religion

Ukrainian jailed as a ‘terrorist’ in Russian-occupied Crimea for converting to Islam

If 2 men arrested on Feb 11, 2016 were probably targeted for their human rights or civic activism, it is likely that Vadim Siruk was arrested as an ethnic Ukrainia... | detail
08.03.17 | Terrorism

Russia slanders Crimean Tatar Mejlis & openly lies about Odesa, MH17 at Hague Court

Russia’s attempt in its opening address to deny that Ukraine’s suit falls within the International Court of Justice’s jurisdiction was anticipated. Slightly less predictable was the strange simila... | detail
01.03.17 | Freedom of expression

Russia moves from armed invasion of Crimea to 5-year sentences for Ukrainians who object

Exactly three years after Russian soldiers with machine guns, but no insignia seized control in Crimea, a Ukrainian journalist has gone on trial, accused of ‘public calls to violate Russ... | detail
28.02.17 | Against torture and ill-treatment

Why do Ukrainian MPs want to prove that Ukraine is just like Russia?

The same Ukrainian MPs who rightly call for sanctions against those police, prosecutors and judges in Russia implicated in the torture and fabricated prosecutions of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and many other Ukrain... | detail
24.02.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

Jailed for proving that Crimea did not ask for annexation

A massive demonstration, organized by the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, outside Crimea’s parliament on February 26, 2014 prevented Russia from claiming Crimea had voluntarily chosen to be annexed. This is not just information for h... | detail
21.02.17 | Law enforcement agencies

Ukraine’s Security Service and Human Rights

At present the Security Service of Ukraine [SBU] is at the same time a security service and a law enforcement body.  Nowhere in the civilized world do security services carry out law enforcement activities. Their purpose is to gather information within the framework ... | detail
17.02.17 | Human Rights Abuses in Russian-occupied Crimea

Russia has more than torture to hide in FSB’s ‘Ukrainian Crimea Saboteur Plot’

It is increasingly evident that the FSB have a great deal to conceal, including indications that the victims of its ‘Crimean saboteur’ plot... | detail
16.02.17 | Against torture and ill-treatment

A brief description of KHPG strategic litigations in 2016

30.01.17 | News from the CIS countries

Donald Trump should ask Putin’s Ukrainian hostages how torture ‘works’

US President Donald Trump’s assertion in a recent interview that torture ‘works’ was shocking for several reasons, but it was also wrong. Most people, subjected to enou... | detail
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