Vladimir Batchaev responds to criticism of journalists for their reports about police activities and notes that over the last year the Ministry of Internal Affairs leadership has systematically destroyed all the seeds of accountability and openness in the work of the police

A new draft law prepared without any consultation with the public or specialists contains provisions which could seriously compromise an already far from unblemished human rights record

The police deny any use of physical force against the 61-year-old who died in the Sviatoshynsky District Police Station in Kyiv on 9 February

Over disturbing human rights abuse by the police and cause for concern over two deaths at the Losiv Police Station in the Kharkiv region

The Prosecutor sees no grounds for initiating criminal proceedings against the police officer who allegedly tortured Yakov Strogan.

Every 40 seconds last year unlawful violence was used by the police. Human rights groups warn that the police are becoming one of the threats to society

In an article entitled “Greetings from the Past”, Dementiy Bily reports on new and extremely worrying encroachments on civil liberties, with the actions by the police having no place in a democracy

The publication of information that the Ministry of the Interior is planning a number of measures aimed at preventing coaches coming to the rallies planned for 17 and 22 January, and the Minister’s reaction

The Lviv Regional Prosecutor’s Office sees no grounds for punishing the police officers who arrested human rights activists for taking part in a peaceful picket

45.7% of those surveyed by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology [KIIS] consider that law enforcement bodies violate human rights more often than other structures and high-ranking individuals

Two officers have been detained on charges of “exceeding official powers” following the death of a disabled man whom the police had “questioned” a few hours earlier

2010 has wiped out most fragile achievements by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to combat unlawful violence, with the situation in all respects worse at the end of the year

Information has been received from Yakov Strogan’s lawyer suggesting that the police are organizing his client’s arrest. He would be charged with causing bodily injury although he is most likely himself a victim of police torture

Questions are rightly asked about recent police action in suppressing peaceful protest and obstructing protesters from reaching Kyiv. It is also baffling how the author of xenophobic hate speech could have become Minister of Internal Affairs in the first place

Civic organizations are concerned over the flagrant disregard shown by the Minister of Internal Affairs and other MIA leadership to fundamental human rights and a serious deterioration in the situation over the last 10 months

In Kyiv workers of the municipal services, with the support of the police, have removed the tent camp on Maidan Nezalezhnosti [Independence Square]. The tents had been there for two weeks in protest over the new Tax Code

This latest infringement of freedom of peaceful assembly is particularly repugnant given that the protesters are seeking justice for those who caused their children’s death in road accidents

The court ruling states that the alleged failings in establishing the reasons and circumstances of Ihor Indylo’s death did not require additional investigation

Drivers report that traffic police officers have been stopping cars and asking the drivers to sign statements that they witnessed the blocking of the street by small business owners during the 22 November protest

The Ministry of Internal Affairs has provided yet another extraordinary response regarding its officers’ activities during the measures taken in Kharkiv to crush peaceful efforts to stop unlawful tree-felling in Gorky Park