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===UNHRC report===

===UNHRC report===

The crimes of the armed Ukrainian battalions were not hidden from the eyes of the [[United Nations]]. On May 4, 2016, a special report by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on extrajudicial executions was published: "... there are still a number of violent groups in Ukraine, such as the Right Sector, which appear to be acting as an independent force through high-level official connivance and with almost complete impunity in both the Donbass and the rest of Ukraine." Ukraine "bears direct responsibility for the existence and actions of armed groups." Many of them, under the guise of volunteer battalions, "officially joined the Ukrainian armed forces or the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but are still beyond the control of the authorities."  According to the report:

The crimes of the armed Ukrainian battalions were not hidden from the eyes of the [[United Nations]]. On May 4, 2016, a special report by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on extrajudicial executions was published: "... there are still a number of violent groups in Ukraine, such as the Right Sector, which appear to be acting as an independent force through high-level official connivance and with almost complete impunity in both the Donbass and the rest of Ukraine." Ukraine "bears direct responsibility for the existence and actions of armed groups." Many of them, under the guise of volunteer battalions, "officially joined the Ukrainian armed forces or the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but are still beyond the control of the authorities."  According to the report:

{{quotebox-float|"Right Sector is one of "potentially violent militias that acted seemingly on their own authority, thanks to a high level of official toleration, and with almost complete impunity, both in the Donbass region and in wider Ukraine" that "use violence or threats of violence to exert pressure on persons holding dissenting views, the judicial system and other mechanisms of accountability": "The Special Rapporteur is concerned by cases of physical attacks on journalists, writers, defence lawyers and judges, including the cases of [[Oles Buzina]] (who was killed in April 2015 in Kyiv) and Sergei Dolgov (who was arrested or disappeared on 18 June 2014 by masked armed men in civilian clothes in Mariupol and whose whereabouts continue to be undetermined despite indications that he might have been killed). The Special Rapporteur is also concerned at an apparent pattern of intimidation of lawyers and judges by civilian armed groups in connection with their defence or investigation work related to the [[Odessa Trade Unions House massacre|violence of 2 May 2014]]."<ref>[https://www.refworld.org/docid/57616a9d4.html Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on his mission to Ukraine]</ref> Neither of Buzyna's accused killers (Andrey Medvedko and Denis Polischuk) nor those accused of abducting Dologov (the [[SBU]] / Anti-Terrorist Center) are associated with Right Sector, though Polischuk belonged to UNSO, whose political arm later merged into Right Sector.

{{quotebox-float|"Right Sector is one of "potentially violent militias that acted seemingly on their own authority, thanks to a high level of official toleration, and with almost complete impunity, both in the Donbass region and in wider Ukraine" that "use violence or threats of violence to exert pressure on persons holding dissenting views, the judicial system and other mechanisms of accountability": "The Special Rapporteur is concerned by cases of physical attacks on journalists, writers, defence lawyers and judges, including the cases of [[Oles Buzina]] (who was killed in April 2015 in Kyiv) and Sergei Dolgov (who was arrested or disappeared on 18 June 2014 by masked armed men in civilian clothes in Mariupol and whose whereabouts continue to be undetermined despite indications that he might have been killed). The Special Rapporteur is also concerned at an apparent pattern of intimidation of lawyers and judges by civilian armed groups in connection with their defence or investigation work related to the [[Odessa Trade Unions House massacre|violence of 2 May 2014]]."<ref>[https://www.refworld.org/docid/57616a9d4.html Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on his mission to Ukraine]</ref> Neither of Buzyna's accused killers ([[Andrey Medvedko]] and [[Denis Polischuk]]) nor those accused of abducting Dologov (the [[SBU]] / Anti-Terrorist Center) are associated with Right Sector, though Polischuk belonged to UNSO, whose political arm later merged into Right Sector.

These 'battalions', both in areas of armed conflict and in the rest of the country, carry out forced violence on behalf of the Government and operate with impunity. This is partly the result of the pressure they exert on the public prosecutor's office or the judiciary, including the police, when the latter try to bring cases against the Patriots.

These 'battalions', both in areas of armed conflict and in the rest of the country, carry out forced violence on behalf of the Government and operate with impunity. This is partly the result of the pressure they exert on the public prosecutor's office or the judiciary, including the police, when the latter try to bring cases against the Patriots.