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.

A legal suit has been lodged to try to stop the so-called ‘restoration’ of the world-renowned Khan’s Palace in Bakhchysarai which is destroying a world-renowned monument of Crimean Tatar heritage.

There are compelling grounds for fearing that Russia’s so-called ‘restoration work’ on the world-renowned Khan’s Palace in Bakhchysarai could forever destroy this vital monument of Crimean Tatar cultural heritage.  While Russia is denying the accusations, photos smuggled out of the site are alarming, as is the lack of any experience in restoration work of the construction company and Moscow architectural firm commissioned to carry out the work.

A bill just tabled in Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada but hopefully withdrawn after international outrage proposed to allow parliament to dismiss the heads of independent anti-corruption agencies, whose scope includes investigating corruption by those same politicians. 

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 rights groups and the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre [EHRAC].

An overwhelming majority of European parliamentarians have endorsed a hard-hitting Resolution condemning Russia’s occupation and repressive measures in occupied Crimea. The MEPs call for the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners held illegally in occupied Crimea and Russia, and stress that Russia has no right to be applying its legislation on occupied territory.

The European Court of Human Rights has issued an important judgment with direct relevance to Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, civic activist Oleksandr Kolchenko, and many other Ukrainians from occupied Crimea imprisoned huge distances away from their homes.

On the first day of hearings into its case against Russia at the International Court of Justice, Ukraine presented a weight of arguments and examples to back its accusations against Russia over its annexation of Crimea and gross violations of human rights under occupation, and for its financing of terrorism in Donbas

The General Court of the European Union has rejected an appeal against the continuation of the sanctions imposed against a Russian state-owned anti-aircraft missile producer which has been actively surplying missile launchers and other weaponry used in the military conflict in Donbas

Black Sea News, together with the monitoring group of the Maidan of Foreign Affairs, have published a blacklist of 260 foreign ships that entered Crimea since Russia’s invasion and annexation up till August 15, 2016.

Paris-Kharkiv, 19 July 2016. After a three-day seminar on documenting human rights violations held for Ukrainian lawyers and human rights defenders in Kharkiv from 4 to 6 July 2016, our organisations express their concern on the prevalent climate of impunity for crimes committed since the beginning of the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine.

Rights activists have gathered vital evidence of direct shelling and military intervention from Russia in 2014 which they intend to pass to the International Criminal Court. The material will help victims defend their rights in international courts and also to refute the ongoing attempts to present the fighting in Donbas as a ‘civil war’.

One of the four controversial ‘decommunisation’ laws adopted in April 2015 has been scrutinized and seriously criticized by European constitutional law experts who say that it does not meet European standards.

The Kyiv District Administrative Court has banned Ukraine’s Communist Party in a move likely to be found in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights to which Ukraine is a signatory

Two Ukrainian nationals, one elderly and in poor health, have been held in Russian detention now for almost a year on mystery spying charges. The degree of secrecy, intimidation and insistence that both men only see lawyers provided by the investigators arouse serious concern that the men’s nationality is the main ‘incriminating’ factor.

With a Russian-based subsidiary of Siemens refusing to comment on serious allegations that it is seeking to bypass EU sanctions, a German-initiated inquiry seems called for. Germany could look to Latvia which is demonstrating its commitment to prosecuting those who breach sanctions.