The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has just issued a report on the situation in Ukraine. It encompass a review of events from last November up to the present. It strikes me as about the closest thing to an even handed assessment of the situation that I have read.
Ukraine: UN rights office urges halt to propaganda, incitement to hatred
While corruption and widespread inequality were among the root causes of the massive street protests that erupted last year in Ukraine, the fear-mongering and incitement to hatred that have followed must be urgently countered to avoid further escalation of tensions in the country, states a United Nations human rights report issued today.
“Facts on the ground need to be established to help reduce the risk of radically different narratives being exploited for political ends. People need a reliable point of view to counter what has been widespread misinformation and also speech that aims to incite hatred on national, religious or racial grounds,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, who’s Office (OHCHR) released the report.
Looking at the root causes of the protests that have taken place in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and elsewhere since November 2013, including corruption, widespread economic inequality, lack of accountability for human rights violations and weak rule-of-law institutions, the OHCHR report also anticipates and draws parallels between the events unfolding in eastern Ukraine and what happened in Crimea – where a referendum was held in mid-March and voters decided that the regions should join Russia – and makes recommendations.
The report further notes that excessive use of force by the Berkut special police and other security forces led to the radicalization of the protest movement and that “violations related to the Maidan protests should be investigated and addressed in order to ensure accountability of perpetrators”.
It is widely assessed that while there were some attacks against the ethnic Russian community, these were neither systematic nor widespread, according to the Human Rights agency. There are also allegations that some participants in the protests and clashes in eastern Ukraine were not from the region, and that some had come from Russia.
“What is clear from our findings is that there is an urgent need to ensure full respect for the rule of law and human rights in Ukraine and thus guarantee the enjoyment of all human rights for all, including minorities,” Ms. Pillay said.
These are excerpts from the article. Reading the whole artice will put them in a better context. A copy of the
full report can be downloaded from this link.
The UN agency seems to have found lots of problems on both sides of the situation and no shortage of blame to go around. Its description of the overall situation as deteriorating and critical strikes me as accurate.