A/HRC/45/CRP.9 I. Executive Summary 1. This report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) examines human rights violations committed in the course of criminal proceedings and processes related to the armed conflicts in eastern Ukraine and in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the city of Sevastopol, temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation1 (hereinafter Crimea) from 14 April 2014 to 13 April 2020. It is based on the work of the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) 2, which monitored and analysed individual cases throughout Ukraine, including in Crimea and in territory controlled by the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and the self-proclaimed ‘Luhansk people’s republic’.3 2. OHCHR recalls that the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders was affirmed by General Assembly resolution 68/262. This report is focused on human rights issues.4 3. With unimpeded access to court hearings and places of detention in Governmentcontrolled territory, OHCHR documented 590 individual cases and monitored 1,280 hearings. By contrast, in territory controlled by self-proclaimed ‘republics’, OHCHR had no access to places of detention and restricted access to ‘proceedings’, but nevertheless documented 305 cases and monitored 71 ‘hearings’. OHCHR has no access to Crimea, and thus was not able to directly monitor any court hearings that took place there. Nevertheless, OHCHR documented 106 cases in Crimea. 4. While armed groups and other non-State actors cannot become parties to international human rights instruments, where they exercise government-like functions and control over a territory, they must respect human rights standards when their conduct affects the human rights of individuals under their control. Therefore noting OHCHR’s mandate to promote and protect the human rights of everyone, everywhere, this report assesses how the human rights of persons living within these territories are affected when these actors exercise governmentlike functions. As such, it does not legitimize the processes or the structures themselves. 5. In conflict-related cases before the Ukrainian judicial system, suspects were generally charged with crimes against the national security of Ukraine or certain crimes against public security, including membership or affiliation with armed groups. 5 In such criminal proceedings, OHCHR identified systematic violations of the rights to liberty and security, to legal counsel, to a fair hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, trial without undue delay, to be present during trial and effective remedy, as well as violations of the right not to be compelled to confess guilt. 6. In Government-controlled territory, OHCHR noted widespread violations of the right to liberty of individuals prosecuted for conflict-related crimes. Throughout the reporting period individuals were often arrested without a court warrant, in violation of national legislation. Pre-trial detention was often automatically imposed and extended, contrary to international human rights law. 1 2 3 4 5 2 General Assembly resolution 73/263, Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, A/RES/73/263 (22 December 2018), para. 11. HRMMU was deployed in March 2014 to monitor the human rights situation in Ukraine with particular attention to its eastern and southern regions, and the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine. Hereinafter referred to as ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ or jointly referred to as self-proclaimed ‘republics’. Specific terms such as ‘legislation’, ‘prosecution’, ‘court’ etc. are used exclusively for the convenience of the reader and to provide the most precise description possible of specific decisions, documents and structures with a view to identify human rights protection needs (and remedies) for the affected population. Crimes against national security (articles 109-1141, chapter I of the Special Part of the Criminal Code) and certain crimes against public security (articles 258-2585, chapter IX of the Special Part of the Criminal Code) were previously rarely applied. Their systematic application coincided with the beginning of the armed conflict due to the application of counter-terrorism legislation. For the purposes of this report, these crimes are jointly referred to as “conflict-related crimes”.