A/HRC/43/CRP.7 C. Accountability for killings and violent deaths 82. Almost six years after the killings and violent deaths of individuals at Maidan between 21 January and 20 February 2014 and in Odesa on 2 May 2014, victims’ families are still seeking justice. 83. While some cases relating to the Maidan protests are now before the courts, there was no further progress in the identification of individual perpetrators responsible for the killings.70 In this regard, OHCHR welcomes amendments to the Law on the SBI which allowed for the transfer of investigators working on Maidan cases from the Prosecutor General’s Office to the SBI under a simplified procedure.71 OHCHR hopes that this will not only ensure that investigations are uninterrupted, but will also facilitate the identification of additional perpetrators. 84. The status of other criminal proceedings in relation to the killings and violent deaths during Maidan protests is illustrated below. 85. OHCHR notes the lack of progress in the vast majority of trials related to the 2 May 2014 clashes in Odesa that claimed the lives of 48 people.72 OHCHR is particularly concerned with the protracted nature of the case against 19 ‘pro-federalism’ supporters as the appeal review of the verdict has yet to start, more than two years since the appeal court registered the case.73 70 71 72 73 22 While 98 people died (84 protesters, 13 law enforcement and 1 bystander), the perpetrators of only two of these killings have been identified to date. See OHCHR, Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 August 15 November 2019, para. 63. These include: (i) mass disorder in the city centre that resulted in six acts of killing imputed to 20 members of ‘pro-federalism’ groups; (ii) breach of duty, negligence and failure of the duty to rescue imputed to the former Head of Odesa regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; (iii) killing of a member of ‘pro-federalism’ group during the mass disorder in the city centre imputed to a member of ‘pro-unity’ groups; (iv) failure to ensure the security of citizens, which led to deaths of 48 people, imputed to three former senior Odesa police officials; (v) failure of the duty to rescue people trapped in the burning House of Trade Unions imputed to five former officials of Odesa regional department of the State Emergency Service. For more information, see HRMMU briefing note on Accountability for Killings and Violent Deaths on 2 May 2014 in Odesa, available at www.un.org.ua/images/documents/4671/Accountability%20for%20Killings%20and%20Violent%20 Deaths%20on%202%20May%202014%20in%20Odesa_1.pdf. Verdict of Illichivskyi town court of Odesa region, 18 September 2017, available at http://reyestr.court.gov.ua/Review/68926870.