Human rights in Ukraine alarming: UN

KIEV: UN warned Friday of an “alarming deterioration” of human rights in eastern Ukraine, where an armed insurgency by pro-Russian separatists is threatening a presidential election just over a week away.
In a new report, the UN’s rights chief catalogued a litany of “targeted killings, torture and beatings, abductions, intimidation and some cases of sexual harassment” which it said was carried out by anti-government groups in the east. With the May 25 vote rapidly approaching, Kiev’s interim leaders are battling to keep Ukraine from disintegrating further.
after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March.
Government forces are pressing on with a military offensive to put down the bloody rebellion in Ukraine’s industrial belt where well-armed insurgents have already seized over a dozen towns and cities in just a few weeks.
The West has been pushing an OSCE peace plan to try to resolve the escalating crisis on Europe’s doorstep, while threatening further sanctions if Moscow or its “proxies” disrupt the election.
In a veiled reference to Russia, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on those with influence on the armed groups in the east “to do their utmost to rein in these men who seem bent on tearing the country apart.”
She also voiced deep concern about “serious problems” of harassment and intimidation facing the Tatar community in Crimea, which was taken over by Russia in the face of international outrage.
But Moscow blasted the report as biased in favour of the new leaders in Kiev, who took power in February after months of pro-EU protests that led to the ouster of Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovych.
“The complete lack of objectivity, blatant discrepancies and double standards leave no doubts that (the report’s) authors were performing a political put-up job aimed at clearing the name of the self-declared authorities in Kiev,” the Foreign Ministry said.
In Kiev, the Polish and Swedish foreign ministers were holding talks with Ukrainian leaders to pledge their backing for the vote, seen by the West as key to preventing the country from descending into all-out war.
Two of the main eastern regions, Donetsk and Lugansk, have already proclaimed sovereignty after weekend independence referendums rejected as illegitimate by Kiev and the West, raising concerns about how election will be conducted in rebel-held areas.
Fighting rages almost every night in the east, particularly around Slavyansk, the epicentre of the uprising, and dozens of people have been killed since Kiev launched what it called its “anti-terrorist operation” in mid-April.
Pillay said there has been a “worrying” rise in abductions in the east and unlawful detention of journalists, activists, local politicians, representatives of international organisations and members of the military, the bodies of some dumped in rivers.
She also highlighted the deteriorating risks for media in the east, where residents say confusion reigns about who is in charge.
Dozens are also still missing after the original pro-EU protests which erupted in Kiev in November, with dozens killed in several days of bloodshed, her report said.