Human Rights in the Administration of Justice in Conflict-Related Criminal Cases in Ukraine April 2014 – April 2020

This report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) examines human rights violations committed in the course of criminal proceedings and processes related to the armed conflicts in eastern Ukraine and in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the city of Sevastopol, temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation (hereinafter Crimea) from 14 April 2014 to 13 April 2020. It is based on the work of the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) , which monitored and analysed individual cases throughout Ukraine, including in Crimea and in territory controlled by the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and the self-proclaimed ‘Luhansk people’s republic’.

The report is based on 673 in-depth interviews with victims and witnesses of human rights violations perpetrated in the context of 517 criminal proceedings related to the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine. Information was also obtained from relatives of victims and their lawyers, Government representatives, civil society and other interlocutors, trial monitoring of 1,280 court hearings, as well as more than 3,300 court documents, official records, open sources and other relevant material. Findings are based on verified information collected from primary and secondary sources assessed as credible and reliable. Findings are included in the report where the “reasonable grounds” standard of proof is met, namely where, based on a body of verified information, an ordinarily prudent observer would have reasonable grounds to believe that the facts took place as described and, where legal conclusions are drawn, that these facts meet all the elements of a violation.