A/HRC/43/CRP.7 I. Executive summary 1. This twenty-ninth report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the human rights situation in Ukraine covers the situation from 16 November 2019 to 15 February 2020. It is based on the work of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).1 2. During the reporting period, OHCHR recorded two civilian deaths (both men) and 17 civilian injuries (13 men, three women, and one boy), a 54.8 per cent decrease compared with the previous reporting period (six killed and 36 injured). The total civilian casualties recorded in 2019 (27 killed and 140 injured) were 40.6 per cent lower than in 2018 (55 killed and 226 injured), and were the lowest annual civilian casualty figures for the entire conflict period. 3. Parliament continued to develop draft laws on remedy and reparation for deaths and injuries of civilians, and for the loss of property, including housing, which could lead to a comprehensive state policy of remedy and reparation to civilian victims of the conflict.2 This has been lacking since 2014. 4. The armed conflict continued to negatively impact the enjoyment of economic and social rights by the civilian population, especially the more than five million residents of the conflict-affected area and internally displaced persons (IDPs).3 Children, older persons and persons in vulnerable situations are at increased risk of being left behind in achieving sustainable development because of the conflict. 5. Linking the payment of pensions to IDP registration deprives hundreds of thousands of pensioners access to their pensions. OHCHR regrets that the Parliament has not yet adopted legislation that would enable pensioners residing in territory controlled by the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and self-proclaimed ‘Luhansk people’s republic’,4 and in localities along the contact line as well as IDPs to access their pension payments in Governmentcontrolled territory without having to complete processes of registration and verification as IDPs. 6. While crossing of the contact line has been facilitated for children under the age of 16, it remained a major challenge for civilians. OHCHR continued to observe long lines at crossing points and winter conditions exacerbated physical difficulties for people. The number of crossings of the contact line during the reporting period (1.3 million in both directions per month) was comparable with those reported throughout 2019. 7. OHCHR remains gravely concerned by continued arbitrary detention, torture and illtreatment of conflict-related detainees, both in Government-controlled territory and in territory controlled by the self-proclaimed ‘republics’. Fifty-two of the 56 people released by the selfproclaimed ‘republics’ and interviewed by OHCHR described having been subjected to torture and/or ill-treatment, including in some cases sexual violence, predominantly perpetrated by members of the ‘ministries of state security’ of the self-proclaimed ‘republics’. While OHCHR was not able to interview any of the 124 people released by the Government by the cut-off-date of this report (due to restrictions imposed on OHCHR operations in territory controlled by the self-proclaimed ‘republics’),5 OHCHR had previously documented the cases of 75 of them. 1 2 3 4 5 HRMMU was deployed on 14 March 2014 to monitor and report on the human rights situation throughout Ukraine, with particular attention to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, and to propose recommendations to the Government and other actors to address human rights concerns. For more information, see UN Human Rights Council, Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Ukraine, 19 September 2014, A/HRC/27/75, paras. 7-8, available at www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session27/Documents/A-HRC-27-75_en.pdf. The design and implementation of programmes aimed at providing remedy and reparation to civilian victims of the armed conflict does not mean that the Government of Ukraine is liable for all conflictrelated damage and losses. For more details, see footnote 19 below. Humanitarian Needs Overview 2020, p. 5. Hereinafter ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ respectively. For brevity, they will be collectively referred to as self-proclaimed ‘republics’. For more information, see para. 15. 3