Writing for rights

People reenacted the events of December 1, 2013, when riot policemen beat up dozens of peaceful protesters. Hennadii Cherevko, a victim of that attack, took part in the reenactment. “I was detained and beaten up on December 1. I had to get treatment at the Kyiv Emergency Hospital, and then went through, like, four court hearings. They called me co-organizer of a criminal group involving 300   to 500 persons. The criminal case has been closed, they have opened another case where I am a victim, but it is not being investigated,” he told us.

The performance near the Presidential Administration was the first event of Amnesty International’s annual campaign “Letter Writing Marathon.” During the first week of December, concerned citizens will write letters to protect people whose rights have been infringed. One of the addressees is Iryna Rabcheniuk, who also suffered during the crackdown near the Presidential Administration on December 1, 2013. A riot policeman hit the woman in the head, making her blind in one eye. “We came to the rally last year because we were outraged at them maiming the students,” Rabcheniuk recalled. “In general, people who gathered there were not aggressive, many of them were girls and doctors, but there were many provocateurs running about as well. Then, the police attacked. People began to flee. My son was running away with the flag, he stumbled and fell. A policeman in a helmet followed him with a stick in hand. This man hit me in the face so that I fell. He smashed my nose and one eye, cracked face bones, I lost a lot of blood and had to undergo six surgeries; I am now disabled.” The criminal investigation into the Rabcheniuk beating incident was opened in a few days, but no one has been punished, and the woman has received no compensation so far.

No one of those who maimed people in Bankova Street has been held accountable over the following year. Activists of Amnesty International wrote an open letter to MPs regarding the human rights situation in Ukraine. Spokesman for Amnesty International in Ukraine Bohdan Ovcharuk commented: “We have listed the most egregious human rights violations committed in the country. These include impunity for crimes committed during the Euromaidan as well as lack of access to international justice for victims of war crimes in the east. Our organization does not have the capacity to collect data on all culprits. We record trends and human rights violations. Also, Ukraine should not delegate the responsibility for solving crimes to international courts. Justice begins at home, and the Ukrainian government is the first in line, duty-bound to investigate crimes committed during the Euromaidan.”