“ It feels like we are turning from victims into suspects”

Irina Kotzyubinskaya, the protagonist of a publication by FACTY and” the first victim” of Euromaydan says that participants of the protests are being put under pressure by secret service and there might come a day, she will have to face it too. In the meantime, another student beaten by Berkut is charged with theft, a photographer whose pictures have been published by Reuters is detained for 60 days.

We published earlier an article about 17-year-old Irina Kotzyubinskaya who was one of the first victims of the Berkut attack against peaceful students’ demonstration in the Independence Square (Maydan Nezalezhnosti) – the young girl was posted missing for several days then.  That article was reposted by multiple Ukrainian and foreign media. Thousands users of social networks shared the story as well. However, not everybody believed in it. There were a lot of statements that Irina’s story is a journalists’ fiction. Some commented in social networks that our newspaper had published a lie. Someone even stated that the girl did not exist.

“Deputy Dean carefully asked me : “So, are you alive? Then proceed to the examinations”.

Below we cite some of the comments we have received (orthography remained unchanged):

“Does anyone really believe in this professionally and artificially composed rot? It’s not only written by some experiences muckraker, it’s written by an ingenious liar… Journalists, you are mercenary scums! No conscience! No principles!”

“This article is a fake, a stream of consciousness by a paid “brain”… The girl most likely shit her panties and swooned or faked a swoon, and that was photographed. No one was beating her, despite all the mess provoked solely by Ukrainian Nazis against Berkut. Berkut was noble with her. For a week the leaders of Maydan were deciding on whether to make a victim of revolution out of her. They decided they would not conceal her dead body, so she “resurrected” as a Maydan zombie”.

“Take a careful look at the photo: where do you see a young girl? It is obviously some middle-aged woman, maybe homeless”.

Photos of 17-y.o. Irina snatched by Berkut during students’ demonstration attack were published in many Ukrainian and foreign media.

However, most readers sympathized with the girl and started discussing the actions of security police. Irina Kotzyubinskaya told FACTY that after the article had been published she received a vast amount of phone calls and questions in social networks. It was so unexpected that the girl even switched off her handy for a while

- I would like to answer those who think I am a ghost “I exist!”, - says Irina. I was born in Vinnitza, being a freshman of Humanitarian Department at National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Honestly, I am tired of proving that what has happened to me is true. I do not understand why some people do not believe it. They probably do not want to accept the obvious. And this is upsetting.

Now I am fully occupied with studies. Revolutions are important, but nobody cancelled midyear examinations. Last week the Deputy Dean, who had taken my story with understanding and even compassion, called me in and said: “ So, you are alive, aren’t you. Then proceed to the midyear examinations.” Since I spent a week in Maydan, I was late with tests in a number of studies. Now I spend nights writing tests and reviews, and pass exams in the daytime.  

— How did your parents react to the article about you?

— Their reaction was normal, no drama. Only my mother asked to be more careful. By the way, there have started repressions towards those who were standing at Maydan with me. I was told they had been visited by officials of State Security Service of Ukraine. They said other protesters were being closely monitored. So to say, one more “wrong” move, and don’t complain then. After such warnings some protestors left Ukraine. Possibly I will be paid a visit soon too.   

“Only twenty victims out of hundreds took legal actions. The rest got intimidated.”

FACTY tried to obtain proof that some victims of Euromaydan protestors beaten by Berkut did leave Ukraine. However, activists of the protests have no such information. Irina Kotzyubinskaya refuses to share the names. The girl is afraid not for herself – she is afraid for her brethren. Nobody knows what is going on with several hundreds of people beaten by Berkut on November 30th. There is not even a complete list of people who were in the Square that night, some are still missing. This information our newspaper obtained from Evgheniy Serdyuk, the leader of recently registered organization “Group of 30^th November”.

- We are looking for all the people who were beaten or arrested that night,” – says Evgheniy. “We know that many were intimidated and threatened, so they are hiding. Out of several hundreds of victims only twenty appealed to court. There is a team of lawyers working with those; we plan on protecting their rights and win justice.

Do you know that law-enforcement authorities falsify victims’ testimonies? For example, when several victims ended up in hospitals, the militia arrived immediately and noted “the statements” of the victims. One statement said that a student had allegedly provoked a fight with Berkut, the other student “badly hurt himself when falling”, yet another one got beaten by other protestors!

Since recently the victims have been invited to the Office of Public Prosecutor to provide detailed evidences. It feels like we are turning from victims into…suspects! Investigators apply psychological pressure; our attorneys with different excuses are being sent away. We wrote a letter to the Prosecutor General and described in detail what was going on during interrogations, we asked the Prosecutor Viktor Pshonka to secure our rights. Fifty Parliament Members signed the letter. Yet we have not heard back.

Meanwhile, strange things started happening to other victims of the “bloody Saturday”. Last weekend Facebook burst with a story that a student, beaten by Berkut and staying in the hospital with severe injuries, was accused of theft!  He allegedly stole a handy from another patient.

— “I was brought to Shevchenkivskiy Regional Police Station of Kyiv together with other beaten people”, - says Vitaliy Kuz’menko, a 22-y.o. student of Kyiv Grinchenko’s University. – “They kept us locked in a police van for an hour. Some people were losing conscious from pain. A young man, who had been beaten on the chest area, could not breathe. Policemen demanded that we explained in writing what we were doing in the Independence Square on the night of November 30^th. Later Parliament Member Andrey Shevchenko approached us and took several injured to Kiev Municipal Emergency Hospital. Doctors there diagnosed me with closed craniocerebral injury, concussion and elbow fracture. It’s been almost two weeks since I am in the neurosurgery department.  

— “Last Saturday I went downstairs in the hospital for a smoke,” – Vitaliy continues. “A man in his midyears approached me and asked if he could borrow my handy. He explained he had run out of money on his phone and his wife urgently needed to make a phone call. I did not mind. Together we went to the sixth floor where, as he stated, his wife was treated. He went in a ward, I stayed in the hall. Five minutes later he came out, returned my phone and thanked me. I went back to my ward in the third floor.


Vitaliy Kuz’menko, a student at one of Kyiv’s Universities: “After they had beaten us in Maydan, they kept us locked in a police van for an hour. Some people were losing conscious from pain…» (Photo courtesy of the author)

Exactly 40 minutes later two militiamen and a stranger showed up in my ward. The stranger  pointed at me “It was him who stole it! Give the handy back!” Militiamen explained that a handy of the stranger’s girlfriend had been stolen. It turned out that there were eye-witnesses who had seen me hanging out in the sixth floor next to the victim’s ward. I was recognized and found by militia for my “distinguishing features”: arm in a cast and… black slippers. Militiamen wanted to examine my personal belongings. “Yes, sure”, - I answered. The militiamen searched through my stuff, but found nothing.

Meanwhile, other patients raised hell – they posted on Facebook and called journalists in. A lawyer came over. Militiamen tried to explain themselves: “He is not a suspect yet; we are just looking into it”. They left pretty fast. 

“FACTY” newspaper requested explanation from the authorities. Olga Bilyk, a speaker for Kyiv City Militia informed us that a criminal case had been opened in relation to the theft incident. Yet, Vitaliy Kuz’menko was not a suspect in the case.

“My son’s only fault is that he was taking pictures of the beating in Maydan”.

It must be a strange coincident that last Monday another protestor was accused of handy theft. It was Oleh Panas, a photographer from Lviv who was in Maydan on the night of November 30^th and who made pictures of students’ beating by Berkut.

-  Oleg went downtown for personal reasons and got appproched by three strangers dressed as civilians, - says Igor Panas, the father of the arrested photographer. – They stated that Oleh had stolen a handy, tied his hands and put him a blue car. Oleh was held in a regional militia office for almost 24 hours, and then he was transported from Lviv to Kyiv.


Oleh Panas, a photographer from Lviv, is now in Pretrial Detention Unit. He was at Maydan on the night of November 30^th and took pictures of the events. He also got beaten by Berkut.

On Tuesday, Shevchenkivs’kyi District Court arraigned Oleh Panas of upheaval organization in front of Kyiv City Administration, with further 60 days of detention as a punishment measure. Attorney at law Tatyana Kozachenko complained that she was not allowed to defend Oleh in court, she was not even allowed to meet with him. The lawyer spent two days at the door of Kyiv Pretrial Detention Unit demanding a meeting with her client.  

— “Oleg was not even in Kyiv on December 1^st!” – says his father. “As I am explained, my son is only guilty of taking pictures at Maydan on November 30^th, and then being among the first who shared pictures in the web. Later his pictures were published by Reuters. By the way, that night Oleh was also beaten by Berkut, his camera was broken…” 

Two days ago the protestors declared they would be staying in Maydan until the offenders of peaceful protests of November 30^th were punished.

Irina Koprovskaya, “FACTY”

13.12.2013

Translated by Valeria K.
http://fakty.ua/173665-sozdaetsya-vpechatlenie-chto-iz-nas-postradavshih-pytayutsya-sdelat-podozrevaemyh

Analysis of Berkut treatment of peaceful protesters on Nov 30 and Dec 1

The Association of Ukrainian Human Rights Monitors on Law Enforcement [UMDPL] have prepared a legal analysis of the actions taken by law enforcement officers during the dispersing of peaceful protesters on Maidan Nezalezhnosti on Nov 30 and during the Dec 1 confrontation on Bankova St.
UMDPL has made use of the ample photo and video footage of the events, and is making their assessment available on open sources as well as passing it to the Prosecutor General’s Office to ensure that the latter does not miss any of the violations and that it finds and punishes those responsible.
During the events on EuroMaidan, various special force units and Interior Ministry forces were deployed however it was primarily the Berkut riot police who used violence.
Berkut is a high-mobility unit with around 3, 700 officers.  This special unit functions on the basis not of a law, but of an internal Interior Ministry order which is not even registered with the Justice Ministry, making it effectively governed by the wishes of one official – the Interior Minister.  The order states that Berkut officers are used for operations involving force in difficult situations.
The analysts consider that there were no legal grounds for deploying Berkut officers to protect public order during the peaceful protest in the early morning on Nov 30.  The people on Maidan Nezalezhnosti were of different ages and level of physical fitness and were behaving peacefully, talking together or sleeping. Nobody was committing any offence meaning that the circumstances cannot be seen to have warranted the use of force. The group of people could not be called organized and accustomed to showing resistance through force or attack.
On Dec 1 outside the president’s administration there were grounds for deploying Berkut, however the officers should have stabilized the situation. This could have been achieved by isolating only those people who were breaking the law and, in accordance with the Militia Act, ensuring the safety of participants of a peaceful gathering. This was not, however, what took place.
The most shocking aspect was the indiscriminate, wide-scale, brutal and cynical manner in which the Berkut officers kicked and beat protesters with rubber truncheons and their fists without paying any consideration to their age, gender or physical condition.  The grounds and limits for the use of force and special means are clearly set out in the Militia Act, the Patrol Service Charter, and other normative acts.  There must be an audible warning before the use of force which should give people the time and opportunity to understand the situation and obey police orders. Instead the use of force and special means coincided with the warning meaning that some people had not even woken up. Force may only be applied without warning where there is a direct threat to the life or health of members of the public or militia officers. There was no such threat on Nov 30.
Both on Nov 30 and on Bankova St on Dec 1, the use of force by police officers was more reminiscent of a mass execution, than a law enforcement measure. Some people lying on the ground and showing no resistance were beaten by several officers at the same time.
This is in flagrant breach of the law which stipulates that where force cannot be avoided, it must not exceed the limits needed for carrying out the officers’ duties, and should minimize the harm caused to the offenders or other citizens. Furthermore, in a Soviet resolution still in force on the use of special means for protecting public order, there is a clear ban on beating people with truncheons on the head, neck, collarbone, stomach and genitals. One can however see on numerous videos that blows were delivered indiscriminately and with disregard for any rules and prohibitions. The nature and methods for the use of force by the police suggests that they were used deliberately to inflict severe pain and suffering in order to frighten the protesters, with this being a direct violation of Article 28 of Ukraine’s Constitution which bans torture, cruel or inhuman treatment or punishment.
Stun grenades were used on Dec 1 on Bankova St without taking into account how far away from people they have to fall, with this resulting in protesters receiving leg burns and injuries.  Both on Nov 30 and Dec 1 the officers breached the Police Act by ignoring the requests of people injured to call an ambulance. Instead they even used force against medical workers who tried to provide first aid to the injured.
UMDPL also notes that the number of journalists who suffered from this violence – over 50 people – was unprecedented in all the years of Ukraine’s independence.  As well as the beating, this involved violation of Article 171 of the Criminal Code – obstructing journalists from carrying out their professional activities.
There were also a large number of procedural infringements with respect to the detention of protesters. Both on Nov 30 and on Dec 1 the detentions were largely unwarranted with the reasons not being given, nor the people who were detained being informed of their rights.  In breach of Article 254 of the Code of Administrative Offences which requires that a protocol be drawn up when a person is detained, some of those detained report that they were released without any protocol or apologies being issued. Such detentions are in breach of Article 29 of the Constitution regarding the right to liberty and personal security, as well as protection from unlawful detention.
The dispersing of peaceful demonstrators by the Berkut officers on both occasions was undoubtedly of a brutal and cynical nature.  The fact that they were obeying orders from above is no excuse for their actions. Article 41 § 4 of the Criminal Code clearly stipulates that a person who carries out a manifestly criminal order or instruction is criminally liable. The management’s reference to “excesses in carrying out orders” is also absurd since almost all the Berkut officers took part in the beatings. In this respect the actions of certain Berkut men and their commanding officers should be viewed as criminal offences as per Article 365 of the Criminal Code – exceeding official powers.
Enabling municipal workers to set up an ice skating rink and New Year tree can in no way be considered the same as ensuring public order or national security. Furthermore the Berkut actions were disproportionate since they were directed at public interests clearly lower in the hierarchy of interests than the rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens enshrined in the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights.
On Dec 9 when Berkut officers unblocked the government quarter there were no beatings or use of force and special means and the protesters were in general moved out in a more civilized manner. however during the events on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in the early hours of Dec 11 and the unblocking of the Kyiv City Administration building the police again applied brutal and excessive force which according to media reports resulted in over 40 people being injured with 5 needing hospitalization.  The police are continuing to disregard legislation and this means that their actions, as before, require close scrutiny from the public, and the effective investigation and punishment of those responsible.

http://khpg.org/index.php?id=1387488356