October 4, 2018

Attacks on Ukrainian activists go unpunished

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Natsionalna Druzhyna

Some 300 protesters gathered on Bankova Street in Kyiv near the Presidential Administration building on September 28 to call attention to dozens of attacks on civic activists in the past year that remain unsolved.

KYIV – Hundreds of protesters assembled in at least a dozen cities across the country to draw attention to a slew of unsolved attacks on civic activists since 2017. 

As far west as Uzhhorod in the Zakarpattia region and Severodonetsk in easternmost Luhansk Oblast, they protested under the slogan of “Silence Kills” since 55 attacks on journalists, civic activists and corruption whistleblowers have gone unsolved – 40 of them over the past 12 months. 

The latest attack on an activist came on October 4. Kyiv City Councilman Serhiy Husovsky was hospitalized after green antiseptic was poured on him as he was entering the Kyiv State Administration building. 

As a local lawmaker, Mr. Husovsky has been pushing for the creation of a museum on Poshtova Square where artifacts and an ancient street dating to the Kyivan-Rus’ times have been uncovered on the site where an underground shopping mall is to be built. He also has advocated for establishing a park in an eastern Kyiv neighborhood where developers want to build an apartment complex. 

Since 2017, 55 attacks have occurred, five of which led to deaths, including that of a human rights activist and lawyer in Kyiv Oblast, Iryna Nozdrovska, who was investigating the death of her sister. 

In fifteen cases, the assailants used either firearms, or traumatic or bladed weapons. 

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Kherson whistleblower Kateryna Handziuk in an undated picture.

Another victim is Kateryna Handziuk, who was attacked in Kherson, 340 miles south of Kyiv. She is a 33-year-old adviser to the city’s mayor and acting head of the city executive committee. 

On July 1, more than 35 percent of her skin was burned in a sulphuric acid attack for what Ms. Handziuk said was her long-time effort to expose corruption in the city. She has accused a local police official of demanding a kickback and regional authorities of covering up the sale of illegally felled timber, according to her Facebook posts. She also has stated that pro-Russian forces are still active in the Kherson area. 

Police initially qualified the acid attack under the lesser charge of “hooliganism” before acquiescing to public pressure and upgrading it to “attempted murder.” 

She posted a video on the eve of the nationwide protests on her Facebook page from her hospital bed. Looking scarred and bald headed, Ms. Handziuk said: “I know I look bad, but I look better than the state of justice and rule of law in Ukraine. Why hasn’t one case been solved? Who is covering up the ones who gave the orders for these attacks? Unfortunately, such questions have become rhetorical.”

During the September 27-28 evening protests, President Petro Poroshenko was still in the U.S. at the time, attending the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. He did issue a brief statement through the Presidential Administration website saying that he “shares the concerns of the activists,” while attributing the attacks to the rise of crime in the country. 

Ms. Handziuk, however, believes the attacks are systemic in nature and not isolated. “There is a connection between all the attacks on civic activists that have recently taken place,” she stated on Facebook. “There is context, and it goes beyond having a regional [aspect].”

In Kyiv, some 300 protesters assembled. They were joined by activists from other regions, notably from Odesa – the country’s third most populous city – where an alarming 14 attacks have occurred. 

Three-time victim Oleh Mykhailyk suffered a gunshot wound to his lung on September 22 in Odesa during the latest attack. He subsequently lost 1.5 liters of blood and was declared clinically dead before doctors stabilized his condition. He leads the local party branch of Syla Liudey (Power of the People). 

He has resisted illegal construction in the city for a number of years and wants to run for mayor. Like many activists who’ve been attacked in Odesa, Mr. Mykhailyk is a harsh critic of incumbent Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov. The mayor holds a Russian passport and has ties to organized crime, according to a BBC Panorama report and a separate investigation by the Organized Crime and Corruption Project. Mr. Trukhanov has repeatedly denied both allegations. 

Odesa-based journalist Svitlana Pidpala was beaten on June 24 for what she says are her investigations on environmental protection issues and the May 2, 2014, clashes between pro-Ukrainian and Russophone activists. Forty-six pro-Russian adherents and two pro-Ukrainian unity activists died during a violent confrontation on that day – most of them as a result of a fire inside the Trade Unions House. 

Another victim of physical violence in the southern port city is Alina Podolyanka, a pro-Ukrainian activist and member of the regional Narodnyi Rukh Ukrainy (People’s Movement of Ukraine) party. 

“The purpose of such attacks is clear: to silence activists and human rights defenders and to discourage others from speaking out against injustice or standing up for human rights,” stated a Freedom House news release released on October 3 jointly with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Frontline Defenders.

One example the pro-democracy watchdog specifically noted was the death of environmental activist Mykola Bychko. He “was found hanged” on June 5 in the woods near the village of Eskhar in Kharkiv region… the local police started a suicide investigation, but they have yet to investigate the possibility that Byhchko was killed in connection with this activism,” Freedom House wrote.

Even judges aren’t immune to attacks. 

Poltava judge Larysa Holnyk was beaten on November 22. In May 2016 she published a video in which Poltava Mayor Oleksandr Mamai asks her to close an administrative corruption case against him. Afterwards, she wrote a letter to the Council of Judges complaining of pressure against her and her family. 

A persistent target of attacks is anti-graft activist Vitaliy Shabunin of Kyiv. On July 17, he suffered chemical burns when a green antiseptic liquid was poured on his face while he was attending a rally at the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. As the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Action Center, he and his team have faced intimidation and lawsuits since Viktor Yanukovych was president in 2010-2014. He has also criticized the Poroshenko administration for not installing institutions to ensure the rule of law fast enough. 

Later, the Internal Affairs Ministry confirmed that members of the National Police took part in the attack on Mr. Shabunin. As a result, the Prosecutor General’s Office ordered a criminal case opened, yet no one has been indicted. 

 “The conduct of these investigations raises concerns that those responsible for the attacks, including those who ordered them, may not be brought to justice,” the Freedom House news release said. 

If the crimes go unpunished things only will get worse. 

“This is only the beginning. Violence will only become harsher,” warned Kherson whistleblower Ms. Handziuk.

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