Public Unrest In Ukraine - Gabriel Hamilton
Human rights violations of many different kinds have been increasingly frequent in Ukraine ever since Viktor Yanukovych was elected in 2010, and in particular, Ukrainians' right to freedom of assembly. The situation in Ukraine is extremely fluid and turbulent and is constantly evolving. Protests started and grew increasingly larger and more violent when Yanukovych refused to sign the free association agreement with the European Union, which would have allowed free trade with the E.U. and for Ukrainians to travel and work in Europe. This was very threatening to Russia, which used to control Ukraine under the Soviet Union. The Kremlin offered Ukraine a large financial bailout to support their failing economy, and a trade union with Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan instead, which Yanukovych opted for. Very recently, Yanukovych fled the country to Southern Russia, possibly for fear of his life. One of the worst human rights violations in Ukraine right now is the significant amount of police brutality that has been perpetrated on the protesters and demonstrators. The multiple accounts of police brutality is an abuse of Ukrainians' freedom of peaceful assembly, their freedom of opinion and expression, their equality under the law, and is an inhumane and cruel way of treating any human, and must be stopped as soon as possible.
The protests, known as Euromaidan, after the square where they started, stemmed from Yanukovych not signing the agreement with the E.U. and got worse the more the government tried to repress it. The protests started on the 21 of November 2013, and by the 30 of November, riot police started attacking and clearing the demonstrators from the square, and also anyone who happened to be in the area. That day, four of the 79 people injured were journalists. On December 1, rioting started all over Kiev, and eventually spread to the rest of the country. According to one startling account, Igor Lutsenko, a leading organizer in the opposition movement, was bagged by police and taken from a hospital in a van. The men interrogated and viciously beat Igor in the middle of a snowy forest, and finally left him to find his way out alone. In other cases, Berkut (Ukraine's riot police) officers would torment protesters or random civilians by making them strip naked and beating and photographing them. There have also been a substantial amount of deaths of protesting civilians in clashes with the police.
Due to the extremely complex nature of this crisis, there isn't much that any of us can do to solve it. Violent clashes are taking place daily, and the situation has changed from mere government repression to an international crisis where Russia is possibly angling to take over the entire country. Ukraine is in dire need of reforming its government to a stable democracy and also getting its economy out of its current downfall. However, this is quite a challenge under its current circumstances, with part of the country being occupied by Russia. The U.S. government can help in different ways by doing things like monitoring the current elections and putting trade sanctions against Russia. If any citizen in the U.S. or other countries would like to help, they could donate to organizations that are trying to help or resolve this conflict, like the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee. The greater Russia's influence grows, the less welcome the United States will be to do much of anything inside the Ukrainian borders.
Sources
Herszenhorn, D. (2014, January 23). Claims of Police Brutality in Ukraine Amid Talks to Quell Unrest. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/24/world/europe/ukraine.html?_r=0
Traynor, I., Walker, S. (2014, February 20). Ukraine violence: dozens killed as protesters clash with armed police. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/20/ukraine-protesters-force-riot-police-independence-square-kiev-battle-control
Ukraine's Berkut police: What makes them special? (2014, February 26). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-25895716
Ukraine crisis timeline. (2014, May 29). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26248275
Ukraine: Police Beatings, Kidnappings in Kiev. (2014, January 24). Retrieved from http://m.hrw.org/news/2014/01/23/ukraine-police-beatings-kidnappings-kiev
The protests, known as Euromaidan, after the square where they started, stemmed from Yanukovych not signing the agreement with the E.U. and got worse the more the government tried to repress it. The protests started on the 21 of November 2013, and by the 30 of November, riot police started attacking and clearing the demonstrators from the square, and also anyone who happened to be in the area. That day, four of the 79 people injured were journalists. On December 1, rioting started all over Kiev, and eventually spread to the rest of the country. According to one startling account, Igor Lutsenko, a leading organizer in the opposition movement, was bagged by police and taken from a hospital in a van. The men interrogated and viciously beat Igor in the middle of a snowy forest, and finally left him to find his way out alone. In other cases, Berkut (Ukraine's riot police) officers would torment protesters or random civilians by making them strip naked and beating and photographing them. There have also been a substantial amount of deaths of protesting civilians in clashes with the police.
Due to the extremely complex nature of this crisis, there isn't much that any of us can do to solve it. Violent clashes are taking place daily, and the situation has changed from mere government repression to an international crisis where Russia is possibly angling to take over the entire country. Ukraine is in dire need of reforming its government to a stable democracy and also getting its economy out of its current downfall. However, this is quite a challenge under its current circumstances, with part of the country being occupied by Russia. The U.S. government can help in different ways by doing things like monitoring the current elections and putting trade sanctions against Russia. If any citizen in the U.S. or other countries would like to help, they could donate to organizations that are trying to help or resolve this conflict, like the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee. The greater Russia's influence grows, the less welcome the United States will be to do much of anything inside the Ukrainian borders.
Sources
Herszenhorn, D. (2014, January 23). Claims of Police Brutality in Ukraine Amid Talks to Quell Unrest. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/24/world/europe/ukraine.html?_r=0
Traynor, I., Walker, S. (2014, February 20). Ukraine violence: dozens killed as protesters clash with armed police. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/20/ukraine-protesters-force-riot-police-independence-square-kiev-battle-control
Ukraine's Berkut police: What makes them special? (2014, February 26). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-25895716
Ukraine crisis timeline. (2014, May 29). Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-26248275
Ukraine: Police Beatings, Kidnappings in Kiev. (2014, January 24). Retrieved from http://m.hrw.org/news/2014/01/23/ukraine-police-beatings-kidnappings-kiev