31st session of the UN Human Rights Council

Agenda item 3

Clustered interactive dialogue with Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom

of peaceful assembly and of association and Special Rapporteur

on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

Intervention by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine

Ambassador Yurii Klymenko

March 9, 2016

Mr. President,

We welcome conducting this dialogue with two Special Rapporteurs as the issues covered by their mandates are very pertinent for Ukraine. Ukrainian citizens suffer on a daily basis of numerous human rights violations, committed by the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea and by the Russian military and their proxies in Donbas. Summary executions and violation of freedoms of assembly and association are among them.

These violations have been documented by OHCHR, international and Ukrainian human rights organizations. The last OHCHR Report, for example, highlights extremely dire situation in the occupied Crimea where ethnic Ukrainian and the indigenous people of Crimea - Crimean Tatars - face systematic restrictions of freedoms of assembly and association. OHCHR as well as Ukraine are also increasingly concerned about the lack of space for people to exercise their rights to freedoms of peaceful assembly and association in the territories controlled by Russia-backed illegal armed groups. The residents of Donbas are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses, including summary executions, committed by Russia-backed armed groups and so-called “Donetsk” and “Luhansk people’s republics”.

Ukraine’s position remains invariable – no human rights violation, regardless of by whom or where they were committed, must not remain unpunished. Ukraine is investigating each and every case of such violations in the territory of Donbas and will make every effort to bring to justice those responsible for committing them.

We hope that Mr. Heyns and Mr. Kiai will pay attention to all these human rights violations.

Government of Ukraine that has recently hosted Mr. Heyns` visit to our country is looking forward to his objective report.

Thank you.