Paul Moreira is an acclaimed French filmmaker. Yet even before his latest documentary “Ukraine, les masques de la révolution” [Ukraine: Masks of the Revolution] was premiered on February 1st by Canal+ he already faced fierce criticism having provoked outrage both in Ukraine and France. You can read an English translation of Moreira’s response to his critics here and watch the film embedded below:
http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=746f31a732b5
Ulrich Heyden is a German journalist and author. Since 1992, he has been a freelance correspondent in Moscow for German media, including for Telepolis. He was co-producer of the 45-minute documentary film (sub-titled in English) released in February 2015 and entitled “Wildfire: The Odessa atrocities of May 2, 2014″.
This film again interviews eyewitnesses of the arson attack on the Trade Union House in Odessa which left 48 people dead on that day, and asks whether the massacre was a pre-planned operation to quell opposition to the new government that came into power two months earlier following the “Euromaidan revolution”.
Most prominent of those alleged to have orchestrated events is neo-Nazi Andrey Parubiy, a co-founder of the Social Nationalist Party of Ukraine and leader of the “self-defence forces” of the Maidan, who was afterwards invited as a guest to Ottawa and Washington and more recently was welcomed by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London.
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Before continuing, I would also like to direct attention to an alternative article – one published back in March 2014 by antiwar.com shortly after the massacre in Independence Square and entitled “What Color is Ukraine’s ‘Color Revolution’?” Here are just a few extracts drawn from the beginning, middle and end:
As the real nature of Ukraine’s “democratic” and allegedly “pro-Western” opposition becomes all too apparent, the pushback from the regime-change crowd borders on the comic. The War Party is stumbling all over itself in a frantic effort to cover up and deny the frightening provenance of the neo-fascist gang they’ve helped to seize power in Kiev. […]
Outside the “we are all Ukrainians now” bubble, however, people are sitting up and taking notice. A Reuters piece spotlights the general uneasiness about the exact color of this latest US-sponsored “color revolution”:
“When protest leaders in Ukraine helped oust a president widely seen as corrupt, they became heroes of the barricades. But as they take places in the country’s new government, some are facing uncomfortable questions about their own values and associations, not least alleged links to neo-fascist extremists.” […]
I don’t know which is more alarming: the entrance into government of a party that traces its origins back to a fighting battalion affiliated with Hitler’s SS, or the sight of US officials whitewashing it. They’re flying the Confederate flag and the Celtic cross in Kiev, and the first African American President is hailing them as liberators. That’s one for the history books! 1
Click here to read the full article.
And here to read an extended post also from March 2004 in which I analysed the facts and misinformation as available at the time of Maidan.
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Ukraine has been thrust into a new political crisis after the economic minister and his team tendered their resignations complaining of ingrained corruption, which has replaced the simmering separatist conflict as the country’s main obstacle to reform.
The economic minister, Aivaras Abromavičius, resigned on Wednesday [February 3rd], and was followed on Thursday by his first deputy, Yulia Kovaliv, and the rest of his team. Two deputy ministers and Ukraine’s trade representative have also resigned. The parliament has reportedly begun debating whether to accept the resignations.
writes Alec Luhn in an article entitled “Economic minister’s resignation plunges Ukraine into a new crisis” published by the Guardian in February. The same piece continues:
A former fund manager born in Lithuania, Abromavičius was one of a group of reform-minded foreign officials hired for their international experience and lack of local corruption networks after a pro-western government took power in 2014.
His resignation letter on Wednesday marked a major blow to the president, Petro Poroshenko, and the coalition government, who have come under increasing fire for the slow pace of reforms. The International Monetary Fund has been holding up a $1.7bn bailout to demand harsh cuts to the pension system and a stronger fight against corruption. 2
A fortnight later and the crisis took another turn when President Petro Poroshenko asked Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to resign, saying “he has lost the support of the governing coalition”:
In a statement, Mr Poroshenko said it was “obvious” that there was demand for a “complete reset of the cabinet”.
“The cabinet has lost the coalition’s trust,” he said.
“To restore this trust, therapy is not enough. One should resort to surgical means,” the president added, saying a new cabinet could be formed by the existing parliamentary coalition. 3
From a BBC article published on February 16th which includes this image:
What the original caption to this BBC image fails to point out is that “the nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party” pictured is neo-Nazi.
At the time of the Maidan, Arseny Yatsenyuk (or “Yats”) had been the preferred choice of Victoria Nuland and the US State Department. 4 Then, once Yatsenyuk was appointed Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister, Washington’s man quickly asserted himself, saying:
“We are to undertake extremely unpopular steps as the previous government and previous president were so corrupted that the country is in a desperate financial plight,” Mr Yatsenyuk told BBC Ukrainian.
“We are on the brink of a disaster and this is the government of political suiciders! So welcome to hell,” he added. 5
The kamikaze mission Yatsenyuk had in mind involved the unleashing of Greek-style austerity measures, served up very much to the satisfaction of the IMF and EU. So welcome to hell indeed!
But Yatsenyuk was already paying a hefty price for leading Ukraine on his admitted “suicide mission” and soon became one of the most despised elected leaders anywhere in the world. Worse, he made himself unpopular inside the Verkhovna Rada, and particularly so after he branded opposition MPs “morons” during a debate last December. Their response was a now familiar one – a periodic Rada brawl ensued (Yats is the one with the bouquet!):
On April 14th, Yatsenyuk, Nuland’s favourite and head of the Open Ukraine Foundation, which is in turn partnered by Nato, the US State Department, Chatham House, and the National Endowment for Democracy among other organizations 6, was finally forced out of office. He had been Prime Minister for a little over two years.
A month later, on May 20th, under the banner “National requirement – no surrender”, thousands of troops from the far-right Azov Brigade (one of the militias leading the battle against anti-Kiev separatists) gathered on the streets of Kiev and surrounded the Rada to demand an end to the Minsk accord and to block concessions allowing local elections in Donbass. Unsurprisingly, the western media turned a blind eye to events, but you can find an extraordinarily downplayed account in Ukraine Today beneath the tagline “Activists set off firecrackers but no clashes reported”:
According to Ukraine’s police, nearly 2,000 people took part in the rally, whereas organizers said about 8,000 activists were brought together. The march resulted in a rally outside Ukraine’s Parliament building (Verkhovna Rada). The protest was held in a peaceful manner, but from time to time the activists would set off firecrackers and flares. 7
Meanwhile, Russia Today reported:
If the Kiev authorities hold elections in the Donbass region, the activists will remove the entire Ukrainian parliament and Petro Poroshenko’s government, and will find new members of parliament, said Andrey Biletsky, the founder of the nationalist Azov battalion.
Quoting Biletsky, as cited by RIA Novosti, saying:
“Today is just the beginning, but it is not the last rally. We must be vigilant, to expect this betrayal [Donbass elections] every second, because they [Kiev authorities] will try to hold these elections quietly … In case of treacherous elections, we will oust the parliament and the presidential administration, and find new deputies.” 8
Then, a few days later on May 25th, an even more shocking event took place:
Amid a divisive debate in Ukraine on state honors for nationalists viewed as responsible for anti-Semitic pogroms, the country for the first time observed a minute of silence in memory of Symon Petliura, a 1920s statesman blamed for the murder of 50,000 Jewish compatriots.
Although the single major media outlet in the western world that actually reported on the story was The Times of Israel.
The report continues:
The minute was observed on May 25, the 90th anniversary of Petliura’s assassination in Paris. National television channels interrupted their programs and broadcast the image of a burning candle for 60 seconds, Ukraine’s Federal News Agency reported.
Adding:
Separately, the director of Ukraine’s Institute of National Remembrance, Vladimir Vyatrovich, said in a statement on Monday that Kiev will soon name a street for two other Ukrainian nationalists — Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych — who are widely believed to be responsible for lethal violence against Jews. […]
Bandera and Shukhevych collaborated with Nazi forces that occupied what is now Ukraine and are believed to have commanded troops that killed thousands of Jews. Once regarded by Ukrainian authorities as illegitimate to serve as national role models because of their war crimes against Jews and Poles, Petliura, Bandera and Shukhevych are now openly honored in Ukraine following a revolution spearheaded by nationalists in 2014. 9
Click here to read the full report in The Times of Israel.
Meanwhile, on the same day [May 25th], again slipping silently under the radar of the vast majority of the western mainstream media – failing to attract the attention of journalists at the BBC, the Guardian and The Independent – was a breaking story of more immediate Ukrainian atrocities:
The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) has suspended its visit to Ukraine after being denied access to places in several parts of the country where it suspects people are being deprived of their liberty by the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU.
“This denial of access is in breach of Ukraine’s obligations as a State party to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. It has meant that we have not been able to visit some places where we have heard numerous and serious allegations that people have been detained and where torture or ill-treatment may have occurred,” said Sir Malcolm Evans, head of the four-member delegation.
The statement released by the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, continues:
“The SPT expects Ukraine to abide by its international obligations under the Optional Protocol, which it ratified in 2006. We also hope that the Government of Ukraine will enter into a constructive dialogue with us to enable the SPT to resume its visit in the near future and so work together to establish effective safeguards against the risk of torture and ill-treatment in places where people are deprived of their liberty,” said Sir Malcolm 10
Which brings us to last Friday [June 3rd], when the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a 53-page report detailing violations of human rights committed by both sides in the conflict.
The International Business Times broke the silence and reported:
The Ukrainian spy agency the SBU is torturing pro-Russian rebel sympathisers and as the conflict in the east of Ukraine rages on, Kiev is demonstrating an entrenched disregard for human rights, the United Nations has said.
For the first time, revelations have emerged of a Ukrainian government-backed torture regime and the UN details five secret government detention centres. The report also outlines prisoner abuse and murders by pro-Russian rebel groups. 11
The same article also links to The Times, seemingly the single major western newspaper to report on this UN report:
Ivan Simonovic, UN assistant secretary-general for human rights, said that in some areas Kiev’s “disregard for human rights” had become entrenched and systemic and needed to be urgently addressed.
The UN report documents hundreds of cases of illegal detention, torture and ill-treatment of detainees — both by pro-Russian armed groups and by government agencies.
It draws attention to prisoner abuse and murders by pro-Russian rebel groups, but also exposes the scale and brutality of Ukraine’s government-backed torture programme for… 12
But to read the rest of the report which is entitled “Kiev allows torture and runs secret jails, says UN”, you will need to log in.
So here is part of the preliminary statement of the United Nation’s report (all bold highlights are added):
Since mid-2014, OHCHR has, recorded some 1,500 accounts from victims, witnesses and relatives. These accounts show that all parties are responsible for human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. Above all, these testimonies – and the civilian casualty data collected – demonstrate that civilians have paid the greatest price for this conflict. [p6 §2]
Since the start of the security operation, hundreds of people accused of involvement in or affiliation with the armed groups have been detained and charged under existing counter-terrorism provisions. Individuals detained by Ukrainian authorities in connection with the armed conflict have been tortured and ill-treated, and continue to face systematic violations of their due process and fair trial rights. In many cases, criminal proceedings against individuals charged with terrorism offenses have brought the lack of independence and impartiality of the judiciary and legal profession into harsh relief. Further, in conducting the security operation and armed conflict, Ukrainian authorities have often run afoul of the principle of non-discrimination through adopting policies that distinguish, exclude, and restrict access to fundamental freedoms and socio-economic rights to persons living in the conflict-affected area. The Government has applied special measures to the conflict zone, lowering human rights protection guarantees and derogating from a number of international treaty obligations. [p6–7 §4]
Reprinted below is a further selection that details a few of the worst abuses and atrocities committed by the Ukrainian police, army, secret service (SBU) and other groups affiliated to the Ukrainian government including neo-Nazi brigades such as the so-called ‘Azov Battalion’.
One note of caution before continuing: the report primarily distinguishes between Ukrainian government forces and “the armed groups”, which is the chosen label used to distinguish anti-Kiev rebel forces. However, given that no formal distinction is made in the report, we are left to infer that every mention of “armed groups” attaches only to the rebel groups and never to forces allied with the government. Since the war has largely been fought by “armed groups” on both sides (Azov and related far-wing militia spearheading the pro-government offensive), as a choice of phraseology, this unfortunately permits an unnecessary degree of ambiguity:
The armed conflict between the Government of Ukraine and the armed groups of the ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ continues to be fought without due regard for civilian protection. [p9 §13]
Ukrainian armed forces and armed groups continue to lay landmines, including anti-personnel mines, despite Ukraine’s obligations as a State party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Credible estimates indicate that mines contaminate large areas of agricultural land in east Ukraine, often in areas which are poorly marked, near roads and surrounding civilian areas. This has resulted in civilians being killed and maimed, often while walking to their homes and fields. These risks are particularly acute for people living in towns and settlements near the contact line, as well as the 23,000 people who cross the contact line every day. [p9 §14]
Water filtration stations and other essential infrastructure have been damaged in hostilities in the shelling of densely-populated civilian areas, as the parties to the conflict have failed to take all feasible precautions in attacks to protect and prevent the destruction of objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population. [p10 §15]
Ukrainian armed forces and armed groups have appropriated residential property of local residents for military use… In many cases, this has forced the owners or residents to leave their homes and in some cases, their communities. [p10 §16]
Due to ongoing heavy shelling in the western outskirts of Donetsk near the contact line, some residents still use bomb shelters on a regular basis, sleeping in damp, damaged basements on a nightly basis. [p11 §19]
On 27 April 2016, civilians waiting to cross a checkpoint in Olenivka village, on the road between Mariupol and Donetsk city, were hit by shelling at night. Four civilians were killed and eight others injured. According to OSCE crater analysis, the mortar rounds were fired from the west-south-westerly direction. This indicates the responsibility of the Ukrainian armed forces. [p11 §20]
As of 1 April 2016, 3,687 criminal cases had been initiated by the National Police of Ukraine into cases of missing people in Donetsk and Luhansk regions since the beginning of the security operation. Besides, 2,755 criminal investigations into abductions or kidnappings had been initiated. The whereabouts of the majority of the missing or abducted persons have been established; hundreds of people, however, remain missing or believed to be in detention (recognized or secret) by the armed groups or Ukrainian authorities. [p13 §26]
Since 1 April 2014, 1,351 unidentified bodies have been recovered in Government-controlled territories of the conflict zone. As of 1 April 2016, 523 of these bodies have been identified while 828 were pending identification. The armed groups have also publicly reported on a number of unidentified bodies in morgues or buried in unmarked graves on the territories they control. In early April 2016, a dozen of bodies of Ukrainian servicemen and members of armed groups were recovered in the Government-controlled territories and in the territories controlled by the armed groups. There are still many bodies of fallen soldiers and members of armed groups that have not yet been recovered. In the ‘Donetsk people’s republic’, at least 430 families are looking for their missing relatives. [p13 §27]
OHCHR received allegations of enforced disappearances, arbitrary and incommunicado detention, torture and ill-treatment committed by Ukrainian law enforcement. Among these were over 20 cases of arbitrary detention and ill-treatment. [p14 §30]
The majority of cases documented during the reporting period concerned incidents in the conflict zone. While the cases from 2014 and early 2015 suggest that volunteer battalions (often in conjunction with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)) were frequent perpetrators, information from the late 2015 and early 2016 mostly implicate SBU. Many of these cases concern incommunicado detention in unofficial detention facilities where torture and ill-treatment are persistently used as means to extract confessions or information, or to intimidate or punish the victim. SBU continued to deny practicing secret or incommunicado detention, the mere existence of unofficial detention facilities, and the whereabouts and fate of individuals who were forcibly disappeared. SBU officials continue to maintain that allegations documented by OHCHR are “unfounded insinuations” made by criminals trying to portray themselves as victims. [p14 §31]
On 20 February 2016, a Mariupol resident was transferred to Donetsk as part of a simultaneous release of detainees. Since March 2015, he had been held incommunicado at the Kharkiv SBU. He was apprehended in Mariupol on 28 January 2015 and kept in an illegal detention facility. There, he was reportedly severely tortured and electrocuted by three men who wanted him to identify supporters of the ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ in Mariupol. [p14 §32]
A resident of Mariupol was detained by three servicemen of the ‘Azov’ battalion on 28 January 2015 for supporting the ‘Donetsk people’s republic’. He was taken to the basement of Athletic School No. 61 in Mariupol, where he was held until 6 February 2015. He was continuously interrogated and tortured. He complained about being handcuffed to a metal rod and left hanging on it, he was reportedly tortured with electricity, gas mask and subjected to waterboarding and he was also beaten in his genitals. As a result he confessed about sharing information with the armed groups about the locations of the Government checkpoints. Only on 7 February, he was taken to the Mariupol SBU, where he was officially detained. [p20 §59]
Oleh Kalashnikov, an opposition politician from the Party of Regions affiliated with President Yanukovych, was assassinated on 15 April 2015. After one year, no suspects have been identified and there has been no progress in the investigation.
Similarly, the killing of chief editor of Segodnya newspaper, Oles Buzyna, on 16 April 2015, continues to be investigated. Buzyna was a critic of the Maidan protests and a proponent of close ties between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. The investigation into his killing, which has been going on for over a year, has been marred by procedural irregularities. The case has not yet been submitted to court.
Two suspects arrested on 18 June 2015 were released from detention in December 2015, subject to summonses to appear in court. In April 2015 the Minister of Internal Affairs stated that he would personally oversee investigations into the death of Oleh Kalashnikov and Oles Buzyna. OHCHR observes a lack of progress in criminal cases involving persons affiliated with or perceived as political and ideological supporters of the Government of President Yanukovych. It is essential for justice to be impartial and to hold those responsible for the killings to account. [p23 §70]
Then we have the massacre in Odessa a little more than two years ago on May 2nd, 2014:
OHCHR is also concerned about the lack of progress in the investigation into the House of Trade Unions fire and the failure of the fire brigade to respond. It took the Office of the Prosecutor General almost six months to open a criminal investigation into the negligence of the State Emergency Service of Odesa region and another five months to charge its head under article 135 (leaving in danger) of the Criminal Code. On 1 March 2016, the suspect fled after his deputy and two other subordinates were detained by the police on the same charges. He has since been put on a wanted list. [p25 §79]
OHCHR welcomes the progress made in the investigation into failure of the police to ensure public safety on 2 May 2014. On 26 February, the Office of the Prosecutor General filed an indictment against former Head of Odesa Regional Police, Petro Lutsiuk. He is accused of committing crimes under articles 136 (failure to provide assistance to people whose life is in danger), 364 (abuse of authority or office) and 366 (forgery in office) of the Criminal Code. He is also accused of not implementing a special plan (‘Volna’ – wave) aimed at counteracting public disorder at mass assemblies and gatherings, which led to the death of 48 people and injuries of more than 200. He is also accused of intentionally leaving people in danger. However, as of the date of this report, the court has not completed the preliminary hearing due to procedural delays caused by the absence of the parties to the trial and failure to duly notify all victims about the date of the court hearing. The relatives of victims of the violence and the defendant’s lawyers denounced the poor quality of the indictment in the case and have requested that the court return it to the prosecution for revision. [p25 §80]
The full report can be found here:
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_14th_HRMMU_Report.pdf.
Click here to read a slightly later post from April 2014 entitled “never let a good Ukrainian crisis go to waste…” in which I investigate the underlying motives for the West’s involvement in the overthrow of Yanukovych.
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1 From an article entitled “What Color is Ukraine’s ‘Color Revolution’?” written by Justin Raimondo, published by antiwar.com on March 12, 2014. http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2014/03/11/what-color-is-ukraines-color-revolution/
2 From an article entitled “Economic minister’s resignation plunges Ukraine into new crisis” written by Alec Luhn, published in the Guardian on February 4, 2016. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/04/economic-minister-resignation-ukraine-crisis-aivaras-abromavicius
3 From an article entitled “Ukraine crisis: Poroshenko asks PM Yatsenyuk to resign” published by BBC news on February 16, 2016. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35585651
In a leaked conversation posted on YouTube, the state department official Victoria Nuland revealed the White House’s frustrations at Europe‘s hesitant policy towards pro-democracy protests in Ukraine, which erupted late last year. Nuland was talking to the US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt. […]
In the tapes, Nuland and Pyatt discuss the upheavals in Ukraine, and Yanukovych’s offer last month to make the opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk the new prime minister and Vitali Klitschko deputy prime minister. Both men turned the offer down.
Nuland, who in December went to Independence Square in Kiev in a sign of support for the demonstrators, adds that she has also been told that the UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, is about to appoint a former Dutch ambassador to Kiev, Robert Serry, as his representative to Ukraine.
“That would be great I think to help glue this thing and have the UN glue it and you know, fuck the EU,” she says, in an apparent reference to differences over their policies.
“We’ve got to do something to make it stick together, because you can be pretty sure that if it does start to gain altitude the Russians will be working behind the scenes to try to torpedo it,” Pyatt replies.
In the phone call, Nuland suggests that Klitschko, the former world champion boxer, is not yet suited to take a major government role, in contrast to Yatsenyuk.
“I don’t think Klitsch should go into the government,” she apparently said.
“I think Yats is the guy who’s got the economic experience, he’s got the governing experience,” she adds. [bold emphasis added]
From an article entitled “Angela Merkel: Victoria Nuland’s remarks on EU are unacceptable” written by Ed Pilkington, Luke Harding “and agencies”, published in the Guardian on February 7, 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/07/angela-merkel-victoria-nuland-eu-unacceptable
5 From an article entitled “Ukraine crisis: Yatsenyuk is PM-designate, Kiev Maidan told” published by BBC news on February 26, 2014. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26359150
6 http://openukraine.org/en/about/partners
7 From an article entitled “Azov Battalion marches in Kyiv against local elections in Donbas (video, photos)” published in Ukraine Today on May 21, 2016. http://uatoday.tv/society/azov-battalion-marches-in-kyiv-against-local-elections-in-donbas-652411.html
8 From an article entitled “1000s of Ukraine nationalists vow to oust Poroshenko administration over Donbass elections” published by Russia Today on May 20, 2016. https://www.rt.com/news/343756-ukraine-nationalists-kiev-parliament/
9 From an article entitled “Ukraine honors nationalist whose troops killed 50,000 Jews” published in The Times of Israel on May 31, 2016. http://www.timesofisrael.com/ukraine-honors-nationalist-whose-troops-killed-50000-jews/
10 From a statement entitled “UN torture prevention body suspends Ukraine visit citing obstruction” released May 25, 2016. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20017&LangID=E&version=meter+at+1&module=meter-Links&pgtype=article&contentId=&mediaId=&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.co.uk&priority=true&action=click&contentCollection=meter-links-click
11 From an article entitled “Ukraine’s spy agency torturing pro-Russian sympathisers in the Donbass alleges United Nations” written by Brendan Cole, published in the International Business Times on June 3, 2016. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ukraines-spy-agency-torturing-pro-russian-sympathisers-donbass-alleges-united-nations-1563545
12 From an article entitled “Kiev allows torture and runs secret jails, says UN” written by Maxim Tucker, published in The Times on June 3, 2016. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/world/kiev-allows-torture-and-runs-secret-jails-says-un-vwlcrpsjn
wall of controversy 