This policy brief was developed following a side event at the OSCE Human Dimension Conference “From
Propaganda to International Crimes: Unpacking the Dimensions of Hate in Russia’s War against Ukraine”
organized by the Social Action Centre (Ukraine) and Crimean Human Rights Group (Ukraine)

This publication is supported by the project “Transformational Recovery for Human Security in Ukraine” implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine and financed by the Government of Japan. The opinions, attitudes, and assessments contained in the policy brief do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Japan, the United Nations Development Programme, or other UN Agencies.

The experience of monitoring conflict-related human rights violations since 2014, as well as the evidence received after the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, led some Coalition member organizations to separate the monitoring of the human rights situation and documentation of war crimes committed against detainees and staff of places of detention into a separate area of work.
In addition, the organizations focused part of their attention on what actions the Ukrainian authorities have taken or failed to take to ensure the safety and well-being of these people.

This work brought together several members of the Coalition - the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, the NGOs Ukraine without Torture, the Social Action Center, and the Expert Center for Human Rights - who were also joined by the NGO “Fight for Rights,” a specialized organization representing the community of people with disabilities.

The authors of the review decided to prepare a preliminary assessment of the human rights situation in places of detention in the three selected regions, as well as to begin analyzing data on war crimes documented in these territories against detainees and/or the administration of places of detention. 

The publication “Discrimination: Court Practice 2012 - 2020” contains a comparative analysis of court decisions for almost the entire period of existence of anti-discrimination legislation in Ukraine. The purpose of this study is to review and analyze lawsuits filed in various courts in Ukraine, where complainants claimed discrimination as the main or one of the violations of their rights.

This review aims to investigate the development of court practice in cases related to discrimination, identify which complaints Ukrainians most often bring to court, what are the trends in the consideration of these complaints and model decisions, and formulate recommendations for all stakeholders in this area to address the main problems identified.