A/HRC/43/CRP.5 71. The National Police closed their investigation into the assault of two Pokrovsk media workers during the election campaign in August 2019, reportedly due to the lack of corpus delicti.66 OHCHR notes, however, that the police failed to question witnesses and examine video footage of the attack, which could have helped support claims with evidence. 72. On 28 October 2019, one and a half months after receiving a crime report on allegations of online bullying of two female civil society activists who advocate against sexism, the cyber police department of National Police in Kyiv declined to register it in the Unified Register of Crimes and forwarded the report to another police department. 67 73. OHCHR is alarmed by new acts of intimidation and violence against civil society activists. In one case, on 8 November 2019, two unidentified individuals beat and used tear gas against an anti-corruption activist, a member of a newly-established commission responsible for qualification assessments of prosecutors, near his home in Kyiv. 68 OHCHR calls for an effective investigation into the attack and its motives, as there are grounds to believe it was related to the victim’s professional activities. 74. In the second half of August 2019, OHCHR learnt that several individuals residing in armed group-controlled Donetsk who helped individuals file complaints to the International Criminal Court and European Court of Human Rights were charged under Article 258-3 of the Criminal Code (“creation of a terrorist group or terrorist organization, leadership of such group or organization or participation in it, as well as material, organizational or other facilitating the creation or operation of a terrorist group or terrorist organization”). 75. OHCHR recalls that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to unhindered access to and communication with international bodies”. 69 OHCHR considers that criminal charges based on provision of assistance to exercise this right to be an infringement on a human rights activity. It also appears to demonstrate an abusive recourse to counter-terrorism legislation.70 OHCHR is also concerned that these charges have already had a chilling effect on the enjoyment of the right to seek legal redress in international courts by residents of Ukraine. 76. In territory controlled by ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’, several interlocutors informed OHCHR that media professionals residing in this area refrain from expressing critical views due to fear of retaliation. This was confirmed by OHCHR observations on the absence of critical media content that contradict mainstream political views supported by representatives of the ‘republics’. OHCHR monitoring found that social media was the only platform available to residents to express their views on the current political, social, economic situation in this territory. 77. OHCHR condemns the ‘sentencing’ of a journalist who contributed to Ukrainian and international outlets, Stanislav Aseyev, to 15 years of imprisonment by a ‘court’ of ‘Donetsk people’s republic’, which held proceedings in camera. Reportedly, the espionage 66 67 68 69 70 Police considered that the journalists violated the right to privacy by entering a building rented by a private person for the event during election campaign, therefore the attackers cannot be brought to accountability for “interference in journalists’ activity”. HRMMU interview, 15 November 2019. HRMMU interview, 14 November 2019. Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, General Assembly resolution 53/144 of 9 December 1998. In this regard, OHCHR recalls that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism recommends that “States must ensure that their measures to address the threats of terrorism, violent extremism and protect national security do not negatively affect civil society. Emergency measures must be strictly limited and not used to crack down on civil society actors”. See his report “Impact of measures to address terrorism and violent extremism on civic space and the rights of civil society actors and human rights defenders”, 1 March 2019, A/HRC/40/52, para. 75(a), available at www.undocs.org/en/A/HRC/40/52. 23