According to the Office of the General Prosecutor the case of a journalist who was severely beaten and shot by so-called “titushky”142 on the night of 18 February and who died in hospital on 19 February, was submitted to the court with an indictment. However, seven perpetrators of the crime have not yet been located. The report submitted to the Office of the General Prosecutor on 7 July by the Provisional Investigating Commission of the Ukrainian Parliament on the Maidan events 143 largely reiterated the prosecutor’s findings. The Commission emphasised the malicious negligence of law enforcement investigators, which resulted in their failure to collect and/or duly secure evidence. This led to an unalterable loss of material evidence, due to which it has become almost impossible to bring the actual perpetrators to trial. People who had been living in the Maidan encampment since the end of the protests refused to dismantle the barricades in Instytutska Street in Kyiv, claiming that it would destroy potential remaining evidence. On 24 July, the Kyiv city prosecutor initiated criminal proceedings against the Kyiv city administration, accusing them of having failed to ensure the departure of pro-Maidan activists from 12 buildings they have been occupying illegally since December 2013 and for not restoring public order and normal traffic in and around the Maidan area of Independence Square. From 7 to 15 August, the Maidan encampment in Independence Square in Kyiv was removed by the voluntary battalions under the auspices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This triggered resistance from the inhabitants of Maidan who tried to defend their camp; a number of tents and tires were set on fire and clashes occurred. Some Maidan inhabitants were arrested and one suffered a gunshot wound. He said to HRMMU that he was shot in the back by law enforcement officers. 106. Investigations into other human rights violations Investigations are ongoing into the human rights violations in the Rymarska case in Kharkiv in March 2014, when members of the pro-Russian organisation Oplot clashed with members of the far-right Patriots of Ukraine. As a result two Oplot activists were killed and several wounded. The SBU said that two suspects are in pre-trial detention, but are not yet charged. The SBU told the HRMMU that it considers that the killings of the Oplot activists were in self-defence, arguing that the victims had committed an armed attack. Investigations are also ongoing into the human rights violations perpetrated during the assault and seizure, on 9 May, of the Mariupol Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the military base by pro-Russian armed groups. When the special police battalion Azov sought to prevent the seizure of the administrative building 20 armed persons were reportedly killed and even more hospitalized. According to the Office of the General Prosecutor, the pre-trial investigations into both these events are expected to be submitted to court in the near future. Investigations into three cases of Volodymyr Rybak, Yurii Popravko and Yurii Diakovskyi, who were abducted by armed groups and found dead in the river near Slovyansk (Donetsk region) with visible signs of torture in mid-April, have not made any progress in four months. According to the relatives, the law enforcement bodies have not questioned the live witnesses or collected the evidence in the building where victims were held as hostages. According to an advocate providing legal aid to people released from the captivity of the armed groups, the investigation of detentions is often sent back to the police precincts in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (as it is their jurisdiction). However, when these crimes were 142 Organized groups of young men, sometimes armed, used to attack peaceful rallies or stage provocations; see first report. 143 Provisional Investigatory Commission of the Parliament of Ukraine on investigation of unlawful acts of the law enforcement organs and particular officials, encroachment of rights and freedoms, life and health of citizens during the events, related to mass socio-political protests, which took place in Ukraine from 21 November 2013. 214 | P a g e