IFEX members strongly condemn recent attacks on journalists during public demonstrations in Kyiv and call for those responsible to be held accountable.
The following is a joint statement, led by the Institute of Mass Information – IFEX’s member in the Ukraine, signed by 40 IFEX members:
Worldwide condemnation for brutal attacks on over 50 journalists in Ukraine
We, the undersigned 40 members of IFEX – the global network defending freedom of expression, strongly condemn the recent attacks on journalists and others during public demonstrations in Kyiv, Ukraine against President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to back out of the trade agreements with the European Union.
During mass demonstrations over several days from 29 November to 1 December 2013, the Institute of Mass Information (IMI), IFEX’s member in Ukraine, reports that 51 local and foreign journalists were severely beaten or suffered injuries from noise grenades, flying rocks or teargas.
According to IMI’s analysis of the situation, it seems clear that many journalists were beaten deliberately by police, and journalists showing their IDs or clearly marked as press were not immune from attack.
On 1 December, there was an attack on the Ukraine Writers Union, where protestors had taken shelter from the violence, and at least one writer was reportedly injured trying to protect the protestors.
As protests continued to mount, with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators calling for the president’s resignation, police raided three opposition media outlets on 9 December and took their computers and servers, thus preventing them from publishing.
Interior Minister Vitaliy Zaharchenko reportedly said that those who publicly claim the innocence of demonstrators who were detained by the police may face charges under Article 378 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine which prohibits “interference into the activities of the court.” This statement appears to threaten the right of individuals to freely and peacefully express their opinions about the protests and the conduct of the security forces.
We urge Ukrainian authorities to respond by taking concrete steps to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice and stop restricting freedom of expression and assembly.
As such, we call on the Ukrainian government:
• To identify and punish those guilty of beating journalists, photographers and operators, who covered public actions in Ukraine from 29 November to 1 December.
• To ensure that no unlawful restrictions on the right to freedom of expression relating to the demonstrations are imposed.
• To introduce visible individual numbers on helmets of the soldiers in the special riot unit known as Berkut, which will make it possible to identify them clearly, and will help to eliminate impunity for their abuse of power.
• To demand the immediate resignation of Interior Minister Vitaliy Zaharchenko, who is responsible for the actions of the Berkut unit.
Signed,
