Amnesty International is launching a global campaign against police impunity in Ukraine.
Hundreds of people have been wounded by police, some very seriously, during the EuroMaydan anti-government protests in Kyiv as well as in other cities in Ukraine since 21 November 2013. There have been at least four fatalities. Some protestors have been abducted by unknown assailants and tortured – one was found dead.
Amnesty International members and their supporters will bring pressure to bear on the Ukrainian government through letter writing, petitions, public actions and lobbying.
The campaign is calling for the Ukrainian authorities to take decisive action to demonstrate that arbitrary and abusive use of force and other human rights violations will not be tolerated, and will be dealt with by disciplinary and criminal measures as appropriate.
Amnesty International is calling on the Ukrainian authorities to:
• Ensure justice in individual cases of abusive use of force by law enforcement officers in connection with EuroMaydan
• Fully cooperate with international investigations into human rights violations in connection with EuroMaydan
• Establish a permanent independent mechanism to investigate allegations of police ill-treatment in Ukraine.
The countries taking part in the campaign are: Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, USA.