By Vestnik Kavkaza
“It is necessary to call an international tribunal to investigate crimes in Ukraine on the basis of the CIS. If it is based on the UN platform, the UN Security Council will veto it; while the CIS countries have more objective and caring views on the events. Moreover, Ukraine is still a CIS member,” stated Alexander Brod, the Director of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, a member of the Presidential Council for Development of Civic Society and Human Rights.
He presented a review headlined “On Mass Violations of the Rights of Believers on the Territory of Modern Ukraine”, which was prepared by the Russian Association of Religious Freedom.
According to Brod, problems of religious discrimination in Ukraine have been discussed since the early 1990s not only by human right activists and experts, but also foreign observers. The State Department of the USA pointed out in its annual report on religious freedom in 2012 that there were difficulties with the registration of new religious communities in some Ukrainian regions. There were cases of attacks on clergy, anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim discrimination, oppression of some Christian affiliations. Acts of vandalism were reported as well.
“Since February 2014, when the overthrow took place, they have given the green light to radical actions, radical groups which were instruments for reaching the political goals of the top authorities. And it led to mass violations of human rights,” Brod thinks. Since December there were several instances of attacks on Jews and synagogues. Due to influence of the international community and criticism, the spectrum of violations reduced, but discrimination against Orthodox representatives became more violent. I mean the profanation of Orthodox churches, assaulting Orthodox clergy. It has spread almost all over Ukraine. Three priests were killed, dozens of churches were vandalized. It has caused serious concern. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia urged the International Council of Churches to pay attention to the discrimination in Ukraine against people for their language, ethnic and religious belonging.”
According to Brod, the instances violate basic documents of international law: “I mean the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1949; the 18th article says that every person has a right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The 19th article says that every person has a right to freedom of opinion and expression. I mean the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights of 1966; the 18th article says that every person has a right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. I mean the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950 and many other documents which are being violated all the time.”
“The Ukrainian authorities are unable to provide obeying laws, support of legal and moral norms or public order,” Brod thinks. “Some criminal cases were initiated, but they led to nothing, as well as in cases of great crimes – the mass murders on the Maidan, the tragedy in Odessa and other examples of disrespect for a person, opinions and views.”
