Moscow Releases ‘White Book’ on Human Rights Abuses in Crisis-Torn Ukraine

The authors compiled their facts by carefully monitoring Ukrainian, Russian and some Western media reports. The study also considered statements from Ukraine’s “new government” and their supporters, and numerous eyewitness accounts, including those posted on the internet. They also recorded observations and interviews with people on the scene, and those collected by non-governmental organizations: The Foundation for Researching Problems in Democracy, and the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights.

The study accuses those “who cynically, in pursuit of their own selfish interests … and pseudo-democratic demagogy, are plunging a multimillion multi-ethnic Ukrainian population into extremism, lawlessness, and a deep crisis of national identity.”

According to the authors, the aim of the document is “to focus on facts which the international community and key international human rights bodies have not shown proper and impartial attention to.”

“The onslaught of racism, xenophobia, ethnic intolerance, the glorification of the Nazis and their Banderite sycophants should be brought to a speedy end through the united efforts of the Ukrainian people and the international community,” it adds.

The document states that the alternative may have “devastating consequences for peace, stability, and democratic development in Europe.” That’s why it’s “necessary to prevent a further escalation of this situation,” it adds.

The document, written in Russian and English, details examples of violations to the right to life and violations of public order and safety, as well as the use of torture, inhuman treatment and other crimes committed in the period from the end of November 2013 to the end of March 2014. It was presented to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, RT reported.

According to the authors of the study, the list of the “most flagrant violations of fundamental international norms by ultranationalist, neo-Nazi, and extremist forces which have monopolized the Euromaidan protests, while far from being exhaustive, nevertheless gives enough grounds to claim that such violations were widespread.”

Another violation, according to the authors of the ‘White Book’, is the “interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.”

Among the violations that took place in Ukraine, the ‘White Book’ mentions weapons, equipment, and the tactics of the Euromaidan participants. It also presents evidence of deliberately committed violence and provocations by the so-called "Peaceful demonstrators."

Meanwhile, Discrimination along ethnic and linguistic lines, xenophobia and racial extremism and incitement of racial hatred are also mentioned in the study, along with religious intolerance, including threats to the Russian Orthodox Church.

The document also mentions the serious restrictions on the freedom of media and censorship in Ukraine. Violations of the right to freedom of thought and belief, including political beliefs, and violations of the right to express them are also mentioned in the ‘White Book’.