· On 5 June, a local cable TV and Internet network provider in Donetsk terminated
the broadcast of Ukrainian channels: “1+1”, “Donbas”, “UBR” and “News24” at the
demand of “Donetsk People’s Republic” representatives.
Propaganda
233. The HRMMU reiterates the importance to counter misinformation, incitement to hatred,
discrimination, and violence. As an example, the “Donetsk People’s Republic” denied all
responsibility for the attack near Volnovakha, claiming that it was the National Guard “paid
by Kolomoiskiy” which perpetrated this attack on the Ukrainian military. On 27 May,
LifeNews posted a photo of a wounded child stating he was shot in the Donetsk
International Airport; however the StopFake.org experts discovered that the photo was
from the Syrian city of Aleppo in April 2013. Although the original publication in twitter
was deleted, the photo was widely used for similar posts on alleged shootings of children.
A different photo with a dead boy's body in a coffin was used for similar messages of
alleged shooting of children in eastern Ukraine. The photo, however, was made in 2010, in
the Crimean city Dzhankoy, of a boy killed by a local criminal.
234. Similarly, various videos became viral, allegedly showing either atrocities by the Ukrainian
army, seizing of "Grad" complexes by armed groups, or of the use UN symbols on
Ukrainian helicopters used in the security operations. It was also demonstrated that
originals of such videos were also filmed earlier in the Russian Federation or in other
countries, and had nothing to do with the current events in Ukraine.
235. Misinformation adds to the instability and fear which affect the lives of people in the
region, and all sides should refrain from using it, especially to the extent that it amounts to
advocacy to national hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or
violence, which is prohibited under Article 20 of the ICCPR.
D.
Freedom of religion or belief
236. On 15 May, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchy (UOC-KP) condemned
the violence and threats to the life and health of the clergy and the faithful of eastern
Ukraine by armed groups. The statement by the Holy Synod of the UOC-KP calls for the
Moscow Patriarchate to condemn collaboration with the supporters of the self-proclaimed
“people’s republics” and distance itself from it. The UOC-KP requested the Government of
Ukraine to protect the clergy and congregation of the Kyiv Patriarchy in the Donetsk and
Luhansk regions from the attacks and threats of the “criminals”.
237. In the statement, the Church also appeals to the international community and inter-religious
social human right organizations to pay attention to the infringement of rights of the
believers of UOC-KP in the eastern parts of Ukraine and in Crimea.
238. In Donetsk, numerous attacks against the inter-religious Prayer Marathon (attended by all
major denominations except the Moscow Patriarchy) took place almost on a daily basis in
May, including heavy beatings of participants, the destruction of property, and threats to
organisers and volunteers. On 23 May, after a repeated attack by 15 representatives of the
“Donetsk People’s Republic”, in an attempt to discuss security arrangements for the Prayer
Marathon, its coordinator allegedly went to the occupied building of the Donetsk Regional
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