impact of the on-going propaganda war. Humanitarian assistance is already being provided by the international community and a Donor’s Conference is being organized by the EU for later in the year. This will provide resources for Ukraine to undertake necessary reform. 25. Corruption and mismanagement has existed for many years. The respect and promotion of good governance, the rule of law and human rights, including through the introduction of critical reforms, must continue as a priority as Ukraine seeks to fulfil its EU aspirations and establish a democratic, pluralistic and prosperous society. II. RIGHTS TO LIFE, LIBERTY AND SECURITY, AND PHYSICAL INTEGRITY 26. The rights to life, liberty and physical security are usually the first to be abused during hostilities, such as that happening in eastern Ukraine. It is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that civilians are never targeted and that all precautions are taken to spare the loss of innocent lives. Detained persons must be treated humanely and provided with all due process guarantees, starting with the right to counsel and information about the reasons for the detention. Arbitrary detention and abduction, hostage taking and other human rights abuses must be promptly investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice. In addition, any allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearance must be duly investigated and perpetrators brought to account. The armed groups fighting in the east must abide by international law but unfortunately this has not been the case. Grave human rights abuses have been committed by those armed groups. And it must be remembered that these groups have taken control of Ukrainian territory and inflicted on the populations a reign of intimidation and terror to maintain their position of control. The Government is undertaking its security operation, within a legislative framework that includes anti-terrorism laws and the criminal procedure code. It also needs to ensure respect for international law and the protection of human rights for all those who live in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. 27. All allegations of abduction, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, torture, ill treatment and other human rights abuses must be investigated and the perpetrators held to account. However, ensuring an impartial investigation of the multiple killings, detentions, cases of torture and enforced disappearances and other reported violations and abuses has not been possible until now because of the dangerous situation in the east and the limited control of the Ukrainian Government in the territory. Casualties 28. The number of casualties is hard to ascertain. However, based on the best data available conservative estimates by the HRMMU and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are that at least 1,000 people have died from mid-April until 15 July. This includes military and civilians (including members of the armed groups). According to the Ministry of Health, as of 10 July, 478 civilians have been killed (441 men, 30 women and 7 children) and 1,392 injured (1,274 men, 104 women and 14 children) since the fighting began in eastern Ukraine in mid-April. However, the Ministry withdrew these figures the same day they announced them, and have issued no further data since. In addition, the Ministry’s figures only include those dead who were delivered to morgues of medical establishments, or those wounded and who later died in hospital. In fact, many dead were buried without being taken to morgues. The number of casualties of the Ukraine armed forces is given as 258, with 922 wounded, according to the Council for National Security and Defence on 15 July. 137 | P a g e

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