On the 56th anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s death, another show trial is beginning in Moscow against Khodorkovsky and Lebedev, and the torment of former YUKOS lawyer Svetlana Bakhmina with her newly-born daughter continuing

10 officers of the Chernihiv Regional Department for Fighting Organized Crime [UBOZ] are facing criminal proceedings over the death of a detainee

A project being run by the Roma Women’s Fund “Chirikili” with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is aimed at changing the attitude of the State and society to Roma people.

For several years the Ukrainian Confederation of Free Trade Unions has cooperated with the Industrial Trade Union for Chemical, Energy and Mining Workers in Germany mainly on improving safety and conditions of work for miners.

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group is calling on the authorities to reveal the content of all normative acts, not just those issued with the unlawful stamps “Not to be published” and “Not to be printed”., but also those secreted away as “for official use only”.

Since the event in Moscow was for the world media’s benefit, here is the report from Associated Press which has since been widely reported in the Ukrainian media

On 24 February the St Petersburg City Court allowed a cassation appeal from the Prosecutor against a previous ruling finding the search of “Memorial” in St. Petersburg to have been illegal, and ordering the return of all material

All use the word “reorganization”, clearly aware that the words “reduction” and “closure” are all too brutal – though much closer to the truth

While changes in migration policy are long overdue, the author expresses grave doubts over the wisdom of placing this vital area under Ministry of Internal Affairs control

The report points to various rights violations including infringement of the principle of freedom and non-discrimination; the right to information; to freedom of peaceful assembly and to form civic associations; access to justice

You wonder whether this is not some kind of recurring nightmare where the authorities are incapable of grasping the obvious fact that we all need to be protected from any attempts to use hatred, lies and primitive labels to destabilize the country

The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union is calling on the President, Prime Minister and Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada to use their legislative initiative to prepare and submit a draft law to protect the rights of prisoners to receive parcels without restriction.

KHPG Open Letter to the Prosecutor General Oleksandr Medvedko and the Head of the State Department for the Execution of Sentences, Vasyl Koshchynets over stubborn refusals to provide information and access to legal aid

The Court on 5 February found Russia guilty of violations of the European Convention over the torture of two men and the enforced disappearance of another six men in different locations in Chechnya between September 2001 and November 2002

Every year in Ukraine 40 thousand people die as the result of alcoholism. This approximate figure is named by consultants on alcohol dependence

The Single Court Register which was intended to provide free and comprehensive information about court rulings in Ukraine is not working

In January 2009 at least 39 people suffered racist and neo-Nazi attacks. 14 of them died. The statistics are lower than for January 2008 when at least 59 people fell victim, with 15 of them killed

KHPG lawyer Arkady Bushchenko believes that people are learning that the European Court of Human Rights cannot help in all cases. On the other hand, he sees the claims being put forward as being of high-quality and capable of making an impact on Ukrainian courts

The death has been announced in Moscow of human rights defender Yefrem Yankelevich who was for many years authorized representative and close associate of Andrei Sakharov

A Kyiv court has refused to declare a Cabinet of Ministers Resolution on court warrants for interception of communications unlawful, but has issued a separate judgment warning the Cabinet that the Resolution fails to safeguard vital rights