Authorities and activists of the so-called People’s Republic of Donetsk grossly and systematically violate human rights. This is one of the conclusions of a mission of Memorial Human Rights Centre that worked in Ukraine in May 2014 in cooperation with the Civic Solidarity Platform.
The referendum of May 11, 2014 cannot be considered legitimate, the report says. The methods used rule out the possibility of reliably determining its results.
Ukrainian authorities must urgently restore order within their internal power structures in order to completely eliminate the possibility of dispatching too few and poorly equipped fighters in places where they may clash with hostile civilians, recommendations of the mission say.
The Ukrainian authorities are obliged to suppress the activities of all illegal armed groups, including those positioning themselves as defenders of Ukrainian statehood. Self-appointed militias supporting Ukrainian statehood can cause just as much damage as the activity of separatists.
Full text of the report can be found below:
