MOSCOW, May 16 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Foreign Ministry said Friday that the authors of a United Nations report on Ukraine attempting to justify the punitive operation in the country were carrying out a political to “whitewash” the self-proclaimed authorities in Kiev.
“We are obliged to state that the report has little to do with the overall real situation in Human rights field in Ukraine. The total absence of objectivity, the flagrant irregularities and the ‘double standards’ leave no doubt that the authors have carried out a political order on ‘whitewashing’ the self-declared authorities in Kiev,” Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said Friday.
“It is deeply regrettable that the report actually justifies the criminal punitive operation in Southeastern Ukraine, and is silent on the victims among civilians, attempting to place the responsibility for human rights violation on the ‘pro-Russian forces,’” Lukashevich added.
The report by the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights commenting on the situation in Crimea was a step back from the United Nations charter endorsing the principles of impartiality and neutrality, Lukashevich said.
“Declaring that the referendum in Crimea was illegal immediately after Kiev and their Western protectors, the UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights endorses that fact that they do recognize the embodied in the international pacts on human rights, the right of people to self-determination, only if it is dictated by political conjunctures,” he said.
The new report by the UN monitoring team in Ukraine was released in Kiev and Geneva on Friday. The research covers the period from April 2 to May 6.
The 34-pages report shows the growing tendency of “violent confrontations” in the country, the official statement said.
The problem has been especially marked in and around the town of Slaviansk, in the Donetsk region, according to the report.
The UN notes that “in most cases, local police did nothing to prevent violence, while in some cases it openly cooperated with the attackers.”
However, the monitoring mission also noted the Ukrainian army had also been accused of murder and other crimes.
“Security and law enforcement operations must be in line with international standards and guarantee the protection of all individuals at all times,” the report said.
Following a regime change in late February, the citizens of the predominantly Russian-speaking southeastern regions of Ukraine refused to recognize the legitimacy of the country’s interim government and called for federalization and referendums on greater autonomy, with rallies sweeping through the region.
Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov launched a special operation last month to crack down on pro-federalization protests.
Russia has called the Western-backed military operation against the protesters a “punitive act,” and accused Ukraine’s authorities of waging a war against their own people.
