Accountability for Killings and Violent Deaths on 2 May 2014 in Odesa

Since its deployment in March 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has monitored, publicly reported and advocated on the human rights situation in Ukraine. This briefing note emphasizes the need to ensure justice for the 48 people who lost their lives and for the estimated 247 people who sustained injuries on 2 May 2014 in Odesa during the clashes between two groups holding differing views about the state structure of Ukraine. The 2 May 2014 events can be divided into two incidents: (i) the unrest in the city centre during which six men were shot dead, and (ii) the unrest in Kulykove Pole square followed by the fire in the House of Trade Unions, which claimed the lives of 42 people.