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On 7 October 2014, the Parliament of Ukraine adopted a law amending, inter alia, article 176 “General provisions on measures of restraint” of the Criminal Procedure Code. Despite availability of a variety of other measures of restraint (i.e. personal recognizance, personal guarantee, bail and house arrest), the amendment prescribed that no other measure of restraint but pre-trial detention can be applied to individuals charged with crimes against national security and a number of crimes against public security. The way Ukrainian courts apply this provision contradicts the international human rights standards related to liberty of person and prohibition of arbitrary detention. In particular, judges dealing with conflict-related criminal cases do not duly assess the elements required to be met for application of a measure of restraint but instead apply pre-trial detention as the only available measure of restraint without giving due consideration to less intrusive alternatives that would effectively mitigate the risks of flight, interference with evidence or recurrence of the crime.

This twenty-sixth report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is based on the work of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), and covers the period from 16 February to 15 May 2019.

The present report is submitted pursuant to the request contained in the statement by the President of the Security Council of 21 September 2018 (S/PRST/2018/18). It also responds to the Council’s requests for reporting on the protection of medical care and on conflict and food insecurity, contained in resolutions 2286 (2016) and 2417 (2018), respectively.

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.

This twenty-fifth report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is based on the work of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), and covers the period from 16 November 2018 to 15 February 2019.