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Situation

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Meeting in Kharkiv during the 2004 Orange Revolution

Overview

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Ukraine had been labeled as "free" by organizations such as Freedom House in 2009.[1] In their report they stated: "Ukraine has one of the most vibrant civil societies in the region. Citizens are increasingly taking issues into their own hands, protesting against unwanted construction, and exposing corruption. There were no limits seen on NGO activities. Trade unions function, but strikes and worker protests were infrequently observed, even though dissatisfaction with the state of economic affairs was pervasive in the fall of 2008. Factory owners were seen as still able to pressure their workers to vote according to the owners’ preferences."[1]

On 20 October 2009 experts from the Council of Europe stated "in the last five years the experts from the Council of Europe who monitor Ukraine have expressed practically no concerns regarding the important [process of the] formation of a civil society in Ukraine. Ukraine is one of the democratic states in Europe that is securing human rights as a national policy, as well as securing the rights of national minorities."[2] According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), "while civil society institutions operate mostly without government interference, police abuse and violations of the rights of vulnerable groups … continue to mar Ukraine's human rights record."[3]

In Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index 2010 Ukraine had fallen from 89th place to 131.[4] Neighboring Russia's press freedom was ranked at position 140.[5] The International Federation for Human Rights called Ukraine "one of the countries seeing the most serious violations against human rights activists" in December 2011.[6]

As of 17 January 2013 Ukraine lost all of its 211 cases at the European Court of Human Rights.[7]

The right to fair trial

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Main article: Judiciary of Ukraine

Amendments to the constitution, which came into force, were detrimental for fair trial in that they re-introduced the so-called general supervision by the prosecutor's office. Other serious problems included lengthy periods for review of cases because the courts were overloaded; infringement of equality of arms; non-observance of the presumption of innocence; the failure to execute court rulings; and high level of corruption in courts.[8] Independent lawyers and human rights activists have complained Ukrainian judges regularly come under pressure to hand down a certain verdict.[9]


Media freedom and freedom of information

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See also: Freedom of the press in Ukraine

In 2007, in Ukraine's provinces numerous, anonymous attacks[10] and threats persisted against journalists, who investigated or exposed corruption or other government misdeeds.[11][12] The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists concluded in 2007 that these attacks, and police reluctance in some cases to pursue the perpetrators, were "helping to foster an atmosphere of impunity against independent journalists."[3][13]

Ukraine's ranking in Reporters Without Borders's Press Freedom Index has in the latest years been around the 90th spot (89 in 2009,[14] 87 in 2008[15]), while it occupied the 112th spot in 2002[16] and even the 132nd spot in 2004.[17]

A May 2014 report from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stated that there were approximately 300 instances of violent attacks on the media in Ukraine since November 2013.[18] A crackdown on what authorities describe as "pro-separatist" points of view has triggered dismay among Western human rights monitors. For example, the 11 September 2014 shutdown of Vesti [Wikidata] newspaper by the Ukrainian Security Service for "violating Ukraine's territorial integrity" brought swift condemnation from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.[19][nb 1]

Freedom of expression and conscience

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Amnesty International has appealed for the release of Ukrainian journalist Ruslan Kotsababy and declared him a prisoner of conscience.[nb 2]

Torture

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Further information: War crimes in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine § Ill-treatment, torture and willful killing of civilians; Humanitarian situation during the war in Donbas § Abductions and torture; Russian torture chambers in Ukraine; and Secret detention centers of SBU

Human rights abuses and the HIV/AIDS epidemic

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Main article: HIV/AIDS in Ukraine

The Ukrainian government has taken a number of positive steps to fight HIV/AIDS, chiefly in the area of legislative and policy reform. But these important commitments are being undermined in the criminal justice and health systems by widespread human rights abuses against drug users, sex workers, and people living with HIV/AIDS.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Freedom House was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Experts of Council of Europe have no remarks to Ukraine concerning rights and freedom of citizens". Kyiv Post. 20 October 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "Ukraine: Events of 2006". Human Rights Watch. 2007. Archived from the original on 16 January 2007.
  4. ^ "Press Freedom Index 2010". Reporters Without Borders. 20 October 2010. Archived from the original on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  5. ^ "Ukraine's Press Freedom Index rating falls steeply". Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2010.
  6. ^ "Report: Ukraine among states with worst human rights records". Kyiv Post. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  7. ^ Україна програла 11 мільйонів за день [Ukraine lost 11 million in a day]. Ukrayinska Pravda (in Ukrainian). 17 January 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  8. ^ "International Helsinki Federation Annual Report on Human Rights Violations (2007): Ukraine" (PDF). ihf-hr.org. refworld.org. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  9. ^ Richard Balmforth (9 April 2012). "Insight: In Ukraine, scales of justice often imbalanced". Reuters. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Local newspaper editor badly injured in assault". Reporters Without Borders. 31 March 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Disturbing deterioration in press freedom situation since new president took over". Reporters Without Borders. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  12. ^ Media crackdown under way?, Kyiv Post (22 April 2010)
  13. ^ Ukraine: Events of 2008. Human Rights Watch. 13 January 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  14. ^ "Press Freedom Index 2009". Reporters Without Borders. 2009. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  15. ^ "Press Freedom Index 2008". Reporters Without Borders. 2008. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Press Freedom Index 2002". Reporters Without Borders. 2002. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Press Freedom Index 2004". Reporters Without Borders. 2004. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  18. ^ Michael Shields (23 May 2014). "Ukraine media freedom under attack: OSCE". Reuters. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  19. ^ Fred Weir (21 September 2014). "Crackdown in Ukraine sullies its democratic aspirations". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  20. ^ Catherine Taibi (9 November 2014). "Ukraine Security Services Break Into Newspaper Office, Shut Down Website". HuffPost. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  21. ^ Shaun Walker (11 February 2015). "Ukraine: draft dodgers face jail as Kiev struggles to find new fighters". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2015.


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