women. The current Cabinet of 18 Ministers includes only two women, although its composition was completely revisited in February. Women are better represented in local government: 12% of regional councillors; 23% of district councillors; and 28% of city councillors; and in village councils women making up 50% of the councillors. 76. The HRMMU has not noted any discriminatory language towards women either during the campaigns for the presidential or Kyiv mayor elections. At the same time, there were no systematic efforts to promote women in campaigning positions, as election commission members or as election observers. NGOs report that the election campaign has not sought to promote women and have expressed concern that the issue of gender equality is becoming lost amid the enormous reform agenda. Political parties 77. On 21 April, Viacheslav Ponomariov, the self-proclaimed Mayor of Slovyansk, reportedly banned the election campaigning activities of the (pro-Maidan) political parties, such as “Udar”, “Svoboda” and “Batkivshchyna” in Slovyansk. 78. On 30 April, the District Administrative Court of Kyiv issued a decision to terminate the activities of the political party “Russian Unity”. 37 The Ministry of Justice provided evidence that the leader of the party, Sergey Aksionov (current “governor” in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea), had conducted an anti-State policy, aimed at the violation of the territorial integrity and independence of the country. The court hearing on the “Russian Block” is to resume on 12 May. G. Minority rights 79. The UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues, Rita Izsák, conducted a mission to Ukraine on 7-14 April 2014, visiting Kyiv, Uzhgorod, Odesa and Donetsk (she was unable to access Crimea). In her press statement at the conclusion of the visit, she noted that inter-ethnic and inter-faith relations were harmonious; and that the legislative and policy environment was conducive to the protection of minority rights, including cultural rights. However, she also observed that considering the great diversity of population groups in Ukraine, the institutional attention to minority issues was currently insufficient and had declined or been downgraded in recent years. She further noted that the recent developments in Ukraine had created an environment of uncertainty and distrust that may create fractures along national, ethnic and linguistic lines and threaten peaceful coexistence if not resolved. She warned that in some localities the level of tension had reached dangerous levels and must be diffused as a matter of urgency.38 37 On 15 April, the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit prohibiting the activities of the political parties Russian Bloc and Russian Unity in Ukraine. Allegedly the leadership of the political parties was seeking to change the constitutional order by force, to undertake activities violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, to illegally seize State power, to undertake war propaganda, violence, and incitement to ethnic, racial or religious hatred – all of which are contrary to Article 5 of the law "On Political Parties in Ukraine". 38 Press statement of 16 April 2014, by the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, available online at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=14518&LangID=E. 47 | P a g e