A/HRC/41/CRP.2 Until the conflict is resolved, adherence to the Minsk Agreements and respect of international humanitarian law are key factors in making this happen. 6. More generally, OHCHR reiterates its concern about the need to ensure broader protection of the rights of conflict-affected civilians wherever they may be. Civilians residing in proximity to the contact line continued to lack access to basic services and social support. Remedy and reparation for people injured and whose relatives have been killed, as well as those whose properties have been damaged or destroyed are still lacking. Furthermore, freedom of movement continued to be one of the main concerns with nine persons dying while crossing entry-exit checkpoints (EECPs).9 Efforts by the Government to facilitate travel across the contact line are welcome, notably the removal of expiry dates of permits to cross EECPs issued online as of 28 March 2019. In practice however, there was little improvement in crossing conditions. There remains an acute need for more crossing points and longawaited reconstruction of the bridge at Stanytsia Luhanska EECP. 7. While OHCHR welcomed efforts to improve conditions for IDPs through Ministry of Social Policy draft amendments to resolutions10 regulating the payment of pensions and social benefits, the Government continues to link access to pensions to IDP registration. As a result, over 700,000 people11 living in territory controlled by ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ have lost effective access to their pensions. 8. OHCHR welcomes the transfer of 120 pre-conflict prisoners from territory controlled by ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ to Government-controlled territory that took place in March and April 2019,12 and encourages the continuation of this practice. 9. OHCHR is concerned about the practice of arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, torture and ill-treatment of civilians in Government-controlled territory. During the reporting period, OHCHR documented four cases of arbitrary detention of civilians allegedly by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Individuals in territory controlled by ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ continued to be subjected to ‘administrative’ arrest and ‘preventive’ arrest, respectively, which constitutes arbitrary and incommunicado detention, and may amount to enforced disappearance. OHCHR documented reports of poor detention conditions and forced labour in a number of penal colonies in territory controlled by ‘Luhansk people’s republic’. In Government-controlled territory, OHCHR had access to official places of detention and conducted confidential interviews with detainees in accordance with international standards. In territory controlled by ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’, OHCHR does not have such access, and continues to call for confidential access to detainees to be granted to international observers including OHCHR. 10. Due process and fair trial violations persist as a result of the pervasive practice of prolonged pre-trial detention, and the use of force and coercion to obtain confessions or to accept plea bargains in conflict-related cases. Interference into the work of courts in conflictrelated and other high-profile trials continued during the reporting period. Despite repeated calls by OHCHR for accountability for the killings of protestors and law-enforcement officers during the violent incidents in the Maidan protests in 2014 and the killings and violent deaths resulting from the 2 May 2014 violence in Odesa, this remains largely unaddressed by the authorities: few perpetrators have been identified and where trials have begun, they are protracted.13 9 10 11 12 13 Eight men and one woman. Reportedly, the deaths occurred due to health complications. Resolutions Nos. 365, 637 and 649. United Nations Briefing Note on Pensions for IDPs and persons living in the areas not controlled by the Government in the east of Ukraine, available at https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/ukraine/document/briefing-note-pensionsunited-nations-ukraine-february-2019. One hundred and fifteen men and five women. HRMMU issued two briefing notes on these events, both available at http://www.un.org.ua/en/publications-and-reports. 5