II. INTRODUCTION A. Context 14. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been closely following the human rights situation in Ukraine since November 2013, when mass protests started in Kyiv further to the Government’s announcement that it would not sign the Association Agreement with the European Union (EU). These protests subsequently spread to other parts of the country, and by mid-February had escalated into violent clashes between riot police and other security forces and protesters. 15. The excessive use of force by the Berkut special police and other security forces was met with impunity and led to a significant radicalisation of the protest movement. Over time, protest called for the resignation of President Yanukovych and his government, and for overall change. Violence escalated after 16 January 2014, following the adoption of a set of more stringent anti-protest laws. Anti-government demonstrators occupied several government buildings, including the Justice Ministry and the Kyiv City Hall, and demonstrations spread across the western and central parts of Ukraine. The violent clashes that occurred between security forces and protesters from 18 to 20 February, including the actions of snipers, resulted in the death of 121, mostly protesters, but also law enforcement officials. Hundreds of people were injured and had to be hospitalised, and some of them remain in critical condition. According to the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine, more than 100 persons remain unaccounted for as at 2 April. 16. On 21 February, President Yanukovych and opposition leaders signed a compromise agreement setting out elections by the end of the year and a return to the 2004 Constitution. On the same day, the Ukrainian Parliament reinstated the 2004 Constitution. After President Yanukovych’s departure from Kyiv, on 22 February, the Parliament decided that he had “withdrawn from performing constitutional authorities” and decided to hold presidential elections on 25 May3. In the meantime, Parliament elected Mr Oleksandr Turchynov as Speaker and thus acting President of Ukraine. A new Government was formed on 26 February. 17. While a number of domestic and international initiatives were undertaken during the Maidan events, they did not manage to prevent conflict escalation and bloodshed. The departure of former President Yanukovych put an end to the deadly confrontations, but daunting new challenges emerged. Events in Crimea 18. Following the dismissal of President Yanukovych at the end of February, unidentified armed men began taking over strategic infrastructures in Crimea. Ukrainian Authorities alleged that the armed men were Russian armed forces and/or allied local paramilitary groups. 3 After long discussions mediated by EU foreign representatives, President Yanukovych stated on 21 February that he had reached a deal with the opposition which would “settle the crisis”. On 22 February 2014, 328 of 447 members of the Ukrainian parliament (MPs) voted to "remove Viktor Yanukovych from the post of president of Ukraine" on the grounds that he was unable to fulfill his duties ] and to hold early presidential elections on 25 May. The vote came an hour after Mr. Yanukovych stated in a televised address that he would not resign. He subsequently declared himself as "the legitimate head of the Ukrainian state elected through a free vote by Ukrainian citizens. However, later that day he fled the capital for Kharkiv, then travelled to Crimea, and eventually to southern Russia. 6|Page