The overview of the current social and humanitarian situation, within the territory of the Donetsk People`s Republic as a result of hostilities between 7 and 13 July 2018

Love for the Motherland is one of the most important moral feelings in the whole spectrum of emotions. This feeling is a sign of a person’s maturity, his/her aspirations for high ideals, their readiness to take responsibility not only for themselves, their families but also for their Fatherland and everything that happens in their home country. Patriotism, a pride for their country and a pride for the people are inherent to the Slavic mentality. The memory of the Great Victory, the struggle for a brighter future has always been in the mind of many Russian people. Even now, a quarter of a century after the collapse of a huge country, the love for the Motherland, the belief in changes for the better, motivates the people and makes them gather on the squares. Belief in higher values was declared at the Maidan in 2013. Then a small part of the committed romantics could not even realize that the aspirations for change would be nothing more than an excuse for the struggle for power, for money, for resources; that these aspirations would cause tens of thousands of victims among civilians, hundreds of thousands of broken destinies of those who also sincerely love their Fatherland, and who will defend their land and its people at the cost of their lives.

Patriotism is love for the country, and its distorting mirror – nationalism – is love for the people, for the nation. Radical changes in society are often based on a sense of superiority, which is usually caused by nationalism and its excesses – chauvinism, Nazism and fascism. One of the results of the Second World War was the prohibition and condemnation of the ideologies of fascism and Nazism. However, after only seventy years, Nazism is reviving in a country that suffered from huge casualties, a country that has experienced colossal crimes against humanity, inspired by the atrocities of the Nazi groups of the insurgent army and its leaders.

75 years ago, 11 July 1943, during the ethnic cleansing, which went down in history as the Volhynian massacre, members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army simultaneously attacked 150 settlements in the west of Ukraine. According to scientists, from 60 to 200 thousand people became the victims of nationalists then. It was a huge tragedy. However, despite the events of the past, the relations between the two countries, Ukraine and Poland, were based on the overcoming of contradictions and moved in the direction of cooperation. Up until the moment when Ukraine began to praise Stepan Bandera and his accomplices again, declaring them fighters for freedom. The request to abolish the law on the heroization of Stepan Bandera was again voiced at the Ukraine-EU summit held on July 9. The idea of national superiority made adjustments to Ukraine’s foreign policy not only towards Poland but also towards Hungary. European countries are increasingly realizing the fact that a country where Nazism has revived would never become one of the members of the Union.

The ideas of the Maidan, where people stood up for European values, are gone because of the nationalists who came to power in the country. In fact, today’s radicals are no different from those who murdered hundreds of thousands of Polish peasants, burned Khatyn, shot Jews in Babi Yar (in confirmation of this, they annually desecrate monuments to the victims of Nazism throughout Ukraine). We must understand that the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism denies humanity as a phenomenon and rejects any other national community, except Ukrainian. After Maidan, the Russian-speaking population was persecuted by radicals, later – Jews and ethnic Hungarians, now the Roma pogroms began in Ukraine. Some criminal groups act openly and in fact cooperate with the SSU.

International legal organizations constantly note in their reports that they observe the growth of radicalism in Ukraine. Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International called on Ukraine to officially condemn the radicals’ aggression and conduct an effective investigation of their attacks. “Since the beginning of 2018, members of radical groups such as “S14”, “Right Sector”, “Traditsya y poryadok” (Tradition and Order), “Carpathian Sich”, and other groups committed at least twenty attacks or acts of intimidation in Kiev, Vinnytsia, Uzhgorod, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk and other cities of Ukraine. Law enforcement authorities are reluctant to investigate the threats and attacks committed by members of these groups. In cases where the investigation was started, there were no signs of effective investigation and identifying of perpetrators, despite the fact that in some cases the perpetrators publicly declare responsibility for attacks in social networks,” the paper says. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also focuses on the problem of the radicalization of the country in its quarterly reports.

The successors of Bandera, Shukhevych and Konovalets know that their hands are free in today’s Ukraine because as early as 2014 the country has started a policy of nationalism in its most extreme manifestations. All crimes committed under the cover of the superiority of the Ukrainian titular nation, remain unpunished, be it the shooting of Berkut, the burning of people in the House of Trade Unions, in nomad camps, the use of the army against its own people, undesirable for their ethnicity, language and political views. Now there is, in fact, genocide in Ukraine, and there are millions of victims.

Article 13 of the Constitution of the Donetsk People’s Republic guarantees equality of human and civil rights and freedoms irrespective of sex, race, nationality, language, origin, property and official status, place of residence, religion, beliefs, membership in public associations, and other circumstances. All forms of limitations of human rights on social, racial, national, linguistic or religious grounds are prohibited.

In the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Ombudsman Office is responsible for observance of the rights and freedoms. So, one can file a complaint with the Ombudsman or make an appointment for a personal reception if his\her rights have been violated.

Citizens can apply to the Ombudsman in any suitable way. Now, the majority of applications are still verbal and submitted through personal reception either with the Ombudsman or the heads of the Office, addressing the Public Complaints and Appeals Department, via hotlines and via web-reception on the Website of the Ombudsman. There is a possibility to file a written complaint that may be submitted either in person or via e-mail.

Since the beginning of 2018, the Ombudsman received 3253 appeals. In the period of work between 7 and 13 July 2018, 12 persons visited the Ombudsman in person, 29 persons received counselling by the Appeals department, 18 citizens received counselling by the Working Group on Issues of Temporary Displaced Persons, and 8 persons received legal counselling. 5 written appeals were approved for consideration, 8 – have been reviewed among those received earlier. 25 calls were received via hotlines, 10 applications were received via e-mail.

All appeals received can be divided into six categories: violations in criminal law – 227 appeals, violations in civil law– 256 appeals, administrative and legal violations against the DPR citizens – 5 appeals, social and humanitarian issues – 1552 appeals, issues connected with hostilities – 416 appeals, other issues – 797 appeals (diagram 1).

The number of appeals (complaints, applications) from citizens,  submitted to the Office of DPR Ombudsman as of 13.07.2018

Among all incoming correspondence to the Ombudsman of DPR, the one which deals with the issues of exercise of social rights of citizens and violations of these rights is the most frequent.  These issues are: pension and social payments, benefits, disability, humanitarian aid – 369 appeals, temporary accommodation – 456 appeals, issues of housing legislation, protection of consumers of housing and public utility services – 135 appeals, migration legislation issues – 276 appeals, labour legislation issues – 109 appeals, healthcare issues – 92 appeals, guardianship and family law issues – 39 appeals, issues of education, culture and sport – 19 appeals, activities of public associations, organizations and trade unions, religious organizations – 24 appeals, land use and tenure – 3 appeals, the rights of servicemen and law enforcement officials – 30 appeals. (Diagram 2).

The number of appeals (complaints, applications) from citizens on social and humanitarian issues, received by the DPR Ombudsman`s Office as of 13.07.2018

The majority of complaints are traditionally received from Donetsk, by territory (Diagram 3).

The number of appeals (complains, applications) from citizens, received by the DPR Ombudsman`s Office as of 13.07.2018

1. Estimates of mortality, wounds to civilians and soldiers as a result of hostilities in the territory of the Donetsk People`s Republic.

Almost every day the DPR Ombudsman’s Office records cases of violations of Donbass citizens’ rights by Kiev authorities: the right to life, to security of the person, to inviolability of the home.

On 8 July, as a result of hostilities in Gorlovka, a DPR serviceman aged 55 sustained gunshot wound.

On 12 July, as a result of hostilities in Novoazovsk region, a DPR serviceman born in 1984 sustained mine-blast trauma.

Within the period between 6 and 12 July 2018, 2 DPR servicemen sustained injuries in the territory of the DPR as a result of armed aggression of the Ukrainian side.

Within the period between January 1 and July 12 2018, 192 persons sustained injuries of various severities in the territory of the DPR. Among them, there were 114 DPR servicemen, 52 civilian men, 24 civilian women and 2 underage children.

Within the period between 6 and 12 July 2018 – 2 DPR servicemen died in the territory of the DPR.

Within the period between January 1 and 12 July 2018, 91 persons died in the territory of the DPR, including 86 men and 5 women.

To be specific, since the beginning of the armed conflict   4658 persons died. Among them, there are 610 women and 4048 men, including 76 children under eighteen.

Officially confirmed information on individuals, who have been wounded since the beginning of the conflict continues to be reported to the Ombudsman’s Office in DPR.

2. Register of the prisoners of war, missing soldiers

and civilians

 This week the Ombudsman’s Office in the Donetsk People’s Republic didn’t receive any appeals on arrest.

Based on the updated figures as of 13.07.2018, 277 persons are held by the Ukrainian side including:

– 82 of those whose presence on the territory of Ukraine had been confirmed.

– 195 persons whose whereabouts are unknown or are being clarified by the Ukrainian side.

This week the Ombudsman’s Office in the Donetsk People’s Republic didn’t receive any appeals on missing persons.

As of 13 July 2018, 471 persons are considered missing. There is a possibility that they are held in Ukrainian captivity.

3. Register of forcibly displaced persons.

At the time of the armed conflict, the civilian population living in the zone of fighting and near the contact line is often affected. With the view to protect the human right to life and security of the person, and to provide assistance to victims as a result of armed aggression by Ukraine, social housing objects (dormitories, boarding houses, health care centres). Since the beginning of the conflict 5380 referrals for accommodation in social housing objects (dormitories, boarding houses, health care centres) have been issued, 137 of them – in 2018. With the coming into force of the Order of the Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic No. 137 of 24.04.2018, Territorial authorities in cities and districts are now responsible for accommodating affected civilians. Social housing objects, which used to carry out activities under the patronage of the Ombudsman Office, are authorized to supervise the authorities.

During the period of work between 7 and 13 July 2018, 18 persons have applied to the Ombudsman’s Office on the issues related to internally displaced persons. There are currently 1164 housing spots available for IDPs in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

It is necessary to remind that there are 7412 persons, including 1825 children under the age of eighteen registered since the beginning of the conflict. 60 social housing objects (dormitories, boarding houses, health care centres) have been opened in the territory of DPR. 54 of them operate (Donetsk Administration removed 1 object from the list), 6 of them are held in reserve.

Currently, 2647 individuals live in social housing objects (dormitories, boarding houses, health care centres) of the Donetsk Administration, including 490 underage children, 4765 persons live in the housing fund of the DPR, including 1335 children under eighteen.

4. Employment of DPR citizens

The Republican Employment Centre is the main institution responsible for providing jobs to the population.

According to their data, 28.8 thousands of vacancies were available in the common database as of 13.07.2018. As of 13 July 2018, there were 27.1 thousand individuals who seek for a job, registered in the Republic Employment Centres. Among them: 20.2 thousand have been employed (12.0 of them – on permanent positions, 8.2 – temporarily).

Donetsk Centre of Vocational Education of The Republic Employment Centre organises regular free public workshops to train practical skills, such as work with personal computers; technique and mechanization of trade accounts (work with cash register machines); the program “1C: Accounting 8.2.”; fundamentals of entrepreneurship; processing and decoration of textile and clothing products etc. 120 persons participated in such seminars.