Preventing human rights violations in the territories held by
insurgents during the war in Donbass
United Nations Human Rights Council
Sebastian Benic (President)
The war between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces in Donbass,
Ukraine began in April 2014 and has since then been the cause of significant deteriorations in
human rights in territories occupied by the Lugansk People’s Republic (LNR) and the
Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). The UN has reported several cases of targeted killings,
torture and abduction of locals in addition to journalists and international observers. UN
Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonović, said the following: ”The
human rights situation in the east of the country [Ukraine] has worsened. There are more arms
being used as well as numerous violations being committed.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luhansk_People%27s_Republic#/media/File:DPR_LPR_en.jpg
Map illustrating the areas occupied by the DNR (Left) and the LNR (Right).
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Armed persons, formed into illegal groups operate and run towns in the Donbass region with
no base of legitimacy and are contributing heavily to the undermining of human rights
protection and guarantees of fundamental freedoms for the town populations. With the armed
persons in control, there has been a rise in the number of reported cases of intimidation,
abductions, killings and harassments for those who disagree with them. In terms of casualties,
by February this year, around 5665 people had been killed since the start of the war.
Freedom of expression is another right that is being heavily undermined in the Donbass
region, making increasingly hard for journalists and other media workers to report on the
situation. Therefore, there has been a significant decrease of these types of workers, who are
essential for the rest of the world seeing they serve as the mediators of vital information in the
area.
The war in Donbass has also created a large number of internally displaced people (IDPs) due
to people fleeing the conflict or losing their homes. Many escape to either Russia or other
safer parts of Ukraine, but many stay in camps in the affected regions. According to UN
reports, the remaining people in the cities of conflict have many times said that there’s a lack
of water, food and electrical power. Additionally, due to the number of IDPs, the camps and
reception centers are not ready in the sense that they will be overwhelmed and underresourced for a further potential increase of IDPs. Even without the addition of new IDPs, the
camps are under-resourced with lack of food, water and health-care. This situation very much
undermines the right to an adequate standard of living. The number of IDPs was estimated to
be around 1.3 million in June 2015, according to UNHCR, of which approximately 60% are
reported to be pensioners. Additionally, a problem that affects younger demographic of the
IDPs is the lack of the right to education due to the destruction of many of educational
facilities in the affected regions.
Minority groups, such as the Crimean Tatars, a Muslim ethnic minority who are mainly
situated in Crimea but also prevalent in the Donbass area have been facing great
discrimination and in many cases been subject to cases of torture and kidnappings, leading to
a massive security threat for the group. The deprivation of freedom of Assembly and freedom
of religion have become an increasingly worrying issue as illustrated by instances of police
raids on places of worship, which has created anxiety not only amongst the Crimean Tatars
but for other religious minority groups as well.
Actions taken by the UN
When it comes to combating the issue of human rights violations in the Donbass area, the UN
has been very active. One example is the establishing of the UN Human Rights Monitoring
Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), which sends out representatives who closely monitor the
situation in key cities and then compile very detailed reports that are accessible for anyone to
read, making it very useful as a reference point when combating the issue at hand.
Another aspect to take into consideration when looking for a solution is the importance of the
Minsk Protocol, which was signed by Ukraine, Russia and the two unrecognized republics in
the Donbass region. The protocol intended to implement immediate ceasefire; it would
however fail to do so as the fighting would continue. Even though the protocol failed to make
any concrete changes, it can still serve the function of acting as a legitimate basis and
reference point for pursuing a peaceful solution to the Donbass war.
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Sources
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/HRMMUReport15May2014.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_situation_during_the_war_in_Donbass
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/9thOHCHRreportUkraine.pdf#sthash.HFQs2
pv2.dpuf
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