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Crimea: Attacks, ‘Disappearances’ by Illegal Forces
Crimea: Attacks, ‘Disappearances’ by Illegal Forces
Rein in Units Operating Outside Law
March 14, 2014
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Human Rights Watch documented the involvement of self-defense units in the abductions of at least six activists from the Euromaidan movement, which organized the months of protests in Kiev that led to President Viktor Yanukovich’s ouster. These units have also attacked and harassed numerous local and foreign journalists.
Local and international media freedom groups have also documented dozens of attacks against reporters by self-defense groups across Crimea. Ukrainian human rights groups have reported that the units have also been involved in violently dispersing demonstrations, unlawfully searching people and vehicles, especially at the Crimea’s administrative borders, and harassing ordinary citizens.
<...>
According to statements by officials in Crimea, these forces have “taken under control” all military installations, law enforcement agencies, and “strategic objects.”
However, Human Rights Watch observations on the ground in Crimea and interviews with people who had – or were witnesses to – interactions with self-defense units, suggest that these units operate outside any legal framework. Some wear camouflage clothes without insignia, others are in civilian clothes. Many wear armbands that symbolize loyalty to Russia with the colors of the Russian flag, or the black and orange St. George flag, the symbol of the highest Russian military honor. Units patrolling the streets are usually unarmed and do not wear masks, while those manning checkpoints, or other strategic locations, wear black balaclavas and carry automatic weapons, including AK-47s.
- more -
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/03/14/crimea-attacks-disappearances-illegal-forces
Rein in Units Operating Outside Law
March 14, 2014
<...>
Human Rights Watch documented the involvement of self-defense units in the abductions of at least six activists from the Euromaidan movement, which organized the months of protests in Kiev that led to President Viktor Yanukovich’s ouster. These units have also attacked and harassed numerous local and foreign journalists.
Local and international media freedom groups have also documented dozens of attacks against reporters by self-defense groups across Crimea. Ukrainian human rights groups have reported that the units have also been involved in violently dispersing demonstrations, unlawfully searching people and vehicles, especially at the Crimea’s administrative borders, and harassing ordinary citizens.
<...>
According to statements by officials in Crimea, these forces have “taken under control” all military installations, law enforcement agencies, and “strategic objects.”
However, Human Rights Watch observations on the ground in Crimea and interviews with people who had – or were witnesses to – interactions with self-defense units, suggest that these units operate outside any legal framework. Some wear camouflage clothes without insignia, others are in civilian clothes. Many wear armbands that symbolize loyalty to Russia with the colors of the Russian flag, or the black and orange St. George flag, the symbol of the highest Russian military honor. Units patrolling the streets are usually unarmed and do not wear masks, while those manning checkpoints, or other strategic locations, wear black balaclavas and carry automatic weapons, including AK-47s.
- more -
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/03/14/crimea-attacks-disappearances-illegal-forces
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