The Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Ukraine has made critical strides in documenting human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine and occupied territories of Ukraine.
In the year since, violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including potential war crimes and crimes against humanity, have continued unabated, causing immense suffering to civilians and civil society actors. In its Monitor reports, CIVICUS has highlighted significant challenges to civic space and exercise of fundamental freedoms, including freedom of association, peaceful assembly, and expression — in occupied territories by Russian Federation but also in government-controlled areas.
To ensure a holistic human rights approach, we would recommend the COI to systematically integrate a civic space lens through enhanced emphasis on civic space and accountability dimensions in its investigations and reporting, as well as integrating Civic Space Indicators into COI’s Fact-Finding Framework.
This could include the following:
1. Document Systematic Civil Society Space Repression in Occupied Territories
- Map the dismantling of civil society infrastructure, including:
- Closure, liquidation/self-liquidation, or co-optation of NGOs and human rights groups.
- Shutdown of independent media and online platforms, including surveillance and censorship (e.g. access to Ukrainian telecommunication, blockage of internet communicators, Roskomnadzor orders constant data collection in occupied territories, enabling prosecutions for online dissent).
- Bans on public assemblies and other undue restrictions to the rights of peaceful assembly.
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Investigate use of repressive legislation, including Russian “foreign agent law”, “espionage”, and “anti-extremism” laws, used to target civil society actors and criminalise civil society work.
CIVICUS and other monitors report that civil society has been forcibly silenced or exiled in all Russian-occupied zones.
2. Documenting Grave Human Rights Violations Associated with the Exercise of Core Civic Freedoms
Civil society activists, individuals and groups in Ukraine are facing increased repression and serious human rights violations for exercising these rights. Victims and survivors of such violations risk being left without justice or reparations. The endemic impunity for such violations can generate cycles of repression that further undermine the enjoyment and protection of those fundamental freedoms, augmenting conflict. Collecting, consolidating and analysing evidence of such violations and abuses, including impact on historically excluded groups, will help identify the most suitable accountability options.
3. Collect Evidence on Efforts Undertaken by Civil Society to Advance Accountability for Grave Human Rights Violations Committed and/or Facilitated by All Parties to the Conflict
Despite ongoing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, Ukrainian civil society remains vibrant. Mapping efforts undertaken by civil society and consulting with civil society, particularly in regard to accountability options, could help identify innovative approaches to accountability and justice. This could therefore include:
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Documentation/monitoring/fact finding
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Accountability promotion (e.g. any processes led by civil society or related good practices that could inform consideration of accountability options)
4. Promote Accountability for Crimes Against Civil Society Actors in Occupied Territories
- Document cases of enforced disappearances, acts of intimidation and/or reprisals, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of:
- Human rights defenders (e.g. Crimean Tatar HRDs based in Crimea), including child and youth human rights defenders
- Local volunteers
- Journalists, lawyers, teachers, cultural leaders, and activists
- Promote accountability for crimes against civil society, including:
- Individual accountability for commanders and administrators responsible for ordering or enabling repression of civil society
- International criminal investigations into enforced disappearances and unlawful detention of activists
The COI’s last report (A/HRC/58/66) notes instances of torture and ill-treatment in detention; this could be expanded through the use of a systematic civic space lens, including the monitoring of emerging patterns of repression against a broader range of civil society actors (e.g. activists, volunteers, educators, cultural workers), expanding documentation methodologies to capture the targeting of civic identity and community infrastructure, and disaggregating abuses linked specifically to civic engagement or resistance.
5. Integrate Civic Space Indicators into COI’s Fact-Finding Framework
- If possible and as appropriate, add a section in future reports on civil society space including restrictions to the rights to freedoms of peaceful assembly, association, and expression, as well as restrictions to the work and persecution of human rights defenders, including the huge challenges faced by human rights defenders in the occupied territories as Russia furthers its campaign of forced russification, indoctrination and militarisation.
- Usage of the following indicators could be useful:
- CSOs banned or restricte
- Media suppression incidents
- Unlawful detentions
- Violence linked to civic activism, exercise of fundamental freedoms, and the work of human rights defenders
6. Expand Monitoring to Civic Space in Government-Controlled Areas
While standing in solidarity with Ukraine and its strong democratic commitments, it is paramount to investigate restrictions on peaceful protest, unjustified restrictions on media and CSOs in the context of the aggression in Ukraine-controlled territories. While civil society, viewed broadly, overwhelmingly enjoys support (e.g. exemptions from mobilisation) and works in tandem with the government, media freedom has recently seen a sharp decline.
