Recommendations

For representatives of states and international organizations:  to recognize organized armed groups of LPR/DPR (Luhansk People’s Republic/Donetsk People’s Republic) as terrorist organizations, in view of their use of violence, including lethal force, against civilian population as a primary method of warfare;  to apply all possible diplomatic and economic means of influence on the Russian Federation urging it to stop the “undeclared war” in the Donbas area and discontinue support to the organized armed groups of LPR/DPR;  to consistently demand that representatives of the organized armed groups of LPR/DPR and the Russian Federation abide by the requirements of the Minsk agreements regarding “exchange of all on all”; to publicly condemn the shameful practice of taking civilian hostages, torture, cruel and inhumane treatment of hostages and prisoners of war.  and to promote fulfillment of the following recommendations by Ukrainian State Authorities: 1) for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine: 1.1) to pass the draft law №1788, dated 16.01.2015 year, that envisages appending Article 124 of the Constitution of Ukraine with the following clause: "Ukraine may recognize the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court under the terms of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court", and ratify the Rome Statute.

1.2) to pass a resolution defining legal status of the territory currently under control of organized armed groups of LPR/DPR and areas adjacent to it, which are under constant shelling and attacks or under a real threat of such shelling or attacks.

1.3) to establish a provisional investigative commission to exercise parliamentary control over the process of collecting and documenting of evidence of crimes against humanity and war crimes, and the process of investigation into such crimes by the respective state bodies.

2) For the Security Service of Ukraine: 2.1) to establish a special investigative body (section, coordination group) to organize the investigation process into crimes against humanity and war crimes. This body shall organize systematic work on collecting and documenting of evidence of such crimes (including surveys among IDPs) with the purpose of preparation of materials for the International Criminal Court, and to coordinate that work with the Ministry of Defense, the General Prosecutor's Office, the Military Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

2.2) to conduct training for staff of the SSU (State Security Service), as well as the Ministry of Defense, the General Prosecutor's Office, the Military Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of Interior, on the provisions of the Rome Statute, explaining to executive officers what constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes, which articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine envisage responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes, and under what conditions, etc.. To require that all Ministry of Defense officers, the General Prosecutor's Office, the Military Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of Interior, especially those who are in the ATO (Anti-Terrorist Operation) area, record all cases of crimes against humanity and war crimes, to perform all necessary actions to preserve evidence and report such cases to the Military Prosecutor's Office and/ or the aforementioned special department of the SSU. To inform exact requirements to evidence and what steps are to be taken to ensure storing / documentation.

1

2.3) To develop criteria that all law enforcement officers who carry out investigatory proceedings on war crimes or crimes against humanity, have to be able to distinguish the latter two from other types of crimes, in accordance with the Rome Statute provisions, To make sure that such crimes are reported to the special department of the SSU. To develop a special investigation plan for such crimes that would ensure maximum possible evidence documentation in a unified (electronic) format and transfer of the unified aggregated data (and if/when necessary, the evidence itself) to the special department of the SSU. Ensure regular communication and supply of information to the department in question on investigation progress.

2.4) The mentioned special department of the SSU shall take inventory of the current criminal proceedings that may contain offense elements constituting a crime against humanity or a war crime, specifically – to inspect all complaints related to the events in Crimea and in the east of Ukraine beginning from February 2014 that, for any reason, have not been entered in the Uniform Register of Pre-Trial Investigations; inspect all complaints concerning disappearance of persons in those regions; apply to such proceedings the same rules that envisage a special investigation plan while notifying special department of the SSU. 2.5) The most grave, mass or strategic (well-evidenced with a high probability of bringing a case to court) crimes against humanity or war crimes are to be adopted for investigatory proceedings by the newly established special department of the SSU. In particular, all current criminal proceedings in relation to abductions in the Crimea, which accompanied the annexation of the Crimea, are to be analyzed; links between those crimes and crimes that occurred later in the Donbas area (subject matter, criminal patterns, etc.) are to be investigated.

2.6) Based on the received information duly evidenced and proved reports on documented crimes and crimes against humanity in the east of the country, are to be submitted on a regular basis. Special attention to be paid to suspects, in particular their relationship with agent of the aggressor state as far as Russian Federation military presence is concerned. Such evidence to be shared with all interested parties (President, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice) and international community.

3) For the General Prosecutor's Office: to assign to the established special investigation department (unit) of the SSU a group of prosecutors — judicial proceedings to align joint activities and if/when necessary, change investigative jurisdiction for effective and efficient investigation. In particular, request for inspection of all investigation proceedings on abductions and torture of citizens of Ukraine in the Crimea, following the annexation of the Crimea.

4) For the Ministry of Justice, jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 4.1 To take into account the provisions of Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights, according to which, in the course of action during an emergency, a war or another public danger that threatens life of a nation, if such measures require a deviation from obligations under the Convention, it is necessary to inform the Secretary General of the Council of Europe about the actions taken and their reasons, and to inform the Secretary General of the Council of Europe about the time when such measures have ceased to apply and the provisions of the Convention are fully applied again.

Also, to consider that the said provisions may not be grounds for deviation from Article 2 (right to life), except in cases of death from unlawful acts of war; from Article 3 (prohibition of torture); from clause 1 of Article 4 (prohibition of slavery) and from Article 7 (no punishment without law).

4.2) to develop a plan of measures to protect citizens' interests at the international level with the involvement of the Security Service of Ukraine, Ministry of Defense, the General Prosecutor's Office, the Military Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of Interior, the Council for the National Security and Defense, the Presidential Administration, Members of the Parliament, academia, and representatives of the civil society, in particular, for recognition of the LPR and the DPR as terrorist organizations on the international level; preparation of a lawsuit against the Russian Federation in the International Court of Justice, and relevant lawsuits to the European Court of Human Rights, etc.

2

5) For the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine: to prepare a list of characteristic features that make it possible to attribute a particular person to the category of combatants, with the provision of the respective explanations as to the possibility of application of such features in the judicial and law enforcement practice (bringing to criminal and administrative responsibility, granting the status of a combatant, provision of benefits and social security etc.).

6) For the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine: To establish a coordinating group composed of representatives of the Security Service of Ukraine, Ministry of Defense, the Office of the Prosecutor General, Military Prosecutor's Office, Ministry of Interior, the Council for the National Security and Defense, the Presidential Administration, Secretariat of the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the scope of competence of which is to include monitoring compliance with the law in the ATO area and responding to reports of illegal actions of the state representatives.

7) For the Ministry of Health: 7.1) to resolve the issue of assistance to civilians, released from captivity by issuing a respective order of the Ministry of Health on free medical check and medical assistance to such persons on the territory of Ukraine; 7.2) to establish a psychological service to render psychological assistance to persons who suffered a psychological trauma and physical injuries as a result of captivity. In addition, to envisage provision of psychological support to their families and recommendations on communication with persons who suffered a psychological trauma.

8) For the Ministry of Social Policy: To resolve the issue of material support for families whose cearer are held captive and for families of persons missing in the ATO area.

For the Ministry of the Interior: 9.1) To properly initiate and investigate criminal proceedings related to cases of ransom demands from relatives of persons held hostages (fraud, racketeering).

9.2) To conduct an inspection (inventory) of all criminal proceedings related to hostage-taking, torture, murder, and other possible crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the conflict area.

To bolster investigations, to ensure the rights of victims, in particular, regarding information about progress in the investigation. To coordinate their actions with the special department (unit) of the SSU. 9.3) To simplify procedures for restoration of lost (destroyed by militants) documents for victims of such crimes, to shorten the time period for issuance of documents.

9.4) To establish a respective department (hotline) in order to improve control over cases of violations by police officers in the ATO-adjacent area.

10) For Ministry of Defense, Ministry of the Interior, the Security Service of Ukraine, Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine: To pay attention to the situation with reported missing civilians on the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. In all such cases, it is necessary to conduct an inspection and inform the military prosecutor's office. To define persons (authority) responsible for communication with relatives of persons reported missing on territory controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces.

English translation provided with support from the United Nations Development Programme and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs