Ombudsman invites leaders to express solidarity with Kiev protestors

The Maltese national ombudsman, Chief Justice emeritus Joseph Said Pullicino, has called on the Maltese authorities to express solidarity with pro-EU protestors who have been violently repressed in protests in Kiev, against the Ukrainian government.

The statement comes ahead of the official visit to Malta by the Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych.

Said Pullicino received a statement from the First Ombudsman of Ukraine, Nina Karpachova, on Tuesday, strongly condemning repressive police actions against demonstrators recently in the country's capital Kiev.

"I strongly condemn the disproportionate use of the brutal force by the special police Berkut units against the participants - most of them are young students - of the peaceful demonstration at the Maidan of Independence Square on 30 November 2013," Karpachova said.

According to the Ukranian ombudsman, the Special Forces have made an assault against protestors, surrounding them without any possibility to escape - "they were surrounded by a metal fence on one side and armed Berkut on the other side. It was a bloody outrage against peaceful people. I evaluate such actions as cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, which is a violation of the UN Convention against tortures.

"It was also shameless to use force and illegal interference against journalists, when they performed their professional duties, which is a violation of Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine."

Karpachova accused the Ukrainian authorities of failing in this test on democracy, respect for the rule of law and human rights.

"They have refused to carry out its constitutional duty to secure the right of the citizens to freedom of peaceful assembly as required by the Constitution of Ukraine, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.

"The civilized democratic society has to guarantee respect for human rights and human dignity, personal integrity, freedom of speech and expression, rights to peaceful assembly and demonstrations. And the punishment for all those responsible for the brutal human rights violations that have taken place in these days in Ukraine should be inevitable under national law and European standards."