Europe

Ceasefire Deal reached for Eastern Ukraine

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

KIEV, Ukraine – a ceasefire deal was announced Thursday after more than 16 hours of discussions between the Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Putin, the leaders of Ukraine and Russia in Minsk, brokered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande. The ceasefire is due to enter into effect on Sunday. The ceasefire is considered a breakthrough in the 10-month conflict which has claimed the lives of more than 5,000 people, many of them civilians and relations between Russia and the West to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking alongside French President Francois Hollande, said that while more work remained to be done to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine “what we have on the table gives us great hope.” Merkel acknowledged that the agreement is not perfect but argued it is an opportunity for progress in addressing the tensions in the region and is “clearly preferable to the situation if we had done nothing.”

Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. (photo courtesy of CNN International)

In a joint declaration, released by the German government, the four leaders stated “their full respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine” and sated that they “firmly believe that there is no alternative to an exclusively peaceful settlement.” The declaration stated leaders “will use their influence on relevant parties” to ensure the package of measures are put into place. “Leaders share the conviction that improved cooperation between the EU, Ukraine and Russia will be conducive to the crisis settlement,” it added.

During a press conference after the Minsk talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin said all parties had agreed to the ceasefire starting February 15 and called for restraint before the ceasefire is set to go into effect. “I call on both sides to end the bloodshed as soon as possible” and come to a political solution to the conflict, he said. Putin argued that the talks between Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany took so long, he said, because authorities in Kiev still refuse to have direct talks with separatists.

United State President Barack Obama issued a statement on the breakthrough ceasefire agreement  “The United States welcomes the agreement reached today in Minsk” it said. “The agreement represents a potentially significant step toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict and the restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty.” However, the United States has continued to expresses concern that the spirit of the accord has been challenged by continued, intense frightening continued in the region.

A Ukrainian military spokesman said around 50 tanks, 40 missile systems and 40 armored vehicles had crossed the border between Ukraine and Russia overnight, accusations that were dismissed by the Putin regime. NATO, however, has said there is overwhelming evidence of Russian military equipment and personnel entering Ukraine but declined to comment on the latest report from the Ukrainian military “The intensity of fighting is evidenced by a sharp increase in the number of people trying to leave front-line towns,” said NATO spokesman Andriy Lysenko.

Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty was a key issue going into the discussions. Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine last spring, shortly before pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions declared independence from Kiev. “Ukraine will always be a unitary state. No federalization whatsoever! #UnitedForUkraine,” Poroshenko tweeted after the deal was announced. In Facebook post, he said that “we did not agree to a single ultimatum.”

For more information please see:

CNN International – Ukraine Ceasefire Deal Reached After Marathon Minsk Talks – 12 February 2015

The Guardian – Ukraine Ceasefire Aims To Pave Way for Comprehensive Settlement of Crisis – 12 February 2015

National Public Radio – Ukraine Cease-Fire Is Reached, Along With $40 Billion Aid Deal – 12 February 2015

Reuters – ‘Glimmer of Hope’ For Ukraine after New Ceasefire Deal – 12 February 2015

Treason Cases in Russia Increase as Tension Continues to Grow Between East and West

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – Svetlana Davydova, a Russian mother of seven, is facing 12 to 20 years in prison on charges of high treason. Davydova allegedly overheard a conversation while on public transportation regarding Russian conscripts being moved undercover into Ukraine to assist pro-Russian rebels, and is accused of reporting that information to the Ukrainian Embassy in Moscow. The irony is that Russia denies even having a military presence in Eastern Ukraine, so Davydova’s alleged report to the Ukrainian Embassy would be not state secrets justifying a treason charge, but merely what Russia regards as lies.

Davydova is the most recent Russian facing treason charges. (Photo courtesy of The New York Times)

The first attorney appointed to Davydova did not even dispute the claims, merely stating that the charges were based on facts. Journalists and activists, however, came to her aid and hired a new attorney who helped release Davydova on bail. Davydova is not the only one in need of help against Russian treason charges, however. Savy serviceman Sergei Minakov, Gennady Kravtsov, former nuclear scientist Vladimir Golubev, and Russian Orthodox Church employee Yevgeny Petrin have all been charged with treason over the past year for allegedly giving information to foreign sources.

This rise in treason charges comes as the ruble continues to drop following multiple rounds of sanctions by the US and EU over the past year, and Russia faces even more due to renewed fighting in Eastern Ukraine. While a meeting to discuss peace is scheduled to occur soon between Russia, England, France, and Ukraine in Belarus, tensions are steadily climbing. After a discussion with German Chancellor yesterday, Obama talked with Putin today and was warned that the United States’s recent discussion about giving lethal aid to Kiev would be seen as an act of war by Russia.

The US has also made the decision to send 12 A-10 Thunderbolt attack planes, which were initially designed to attack Soviet tanks during the Cold War, and 300 personnel to an airbase in Germany to bolster NATO’s strength in Europe. This is all in addition the US decision to give further training to Kiev’s troops fighting in Eastern Ukraine, where fighting continues to intensify. Given the strengthening of Russia’s foes and the weakening condition of the Russian economy, along with instability across their border in Eastern Ukraine, and even some instability within their own borders (which peaked during 2011 and 2012 protests regarding Putin’s third election as President), a picture begins to take shape possibly explaining why Russia is cracking down on treason charges that are likely meant to scare the public into conformity at the expense of the few accused.

For more information, please see:

Yahoo Finance – Ukraine Tensions Hit Boiling Point as Obama Confronts Putin – 12 February 2015

Business Insider – The US is redeploying A-10s to Europe – 11 February 2015

RT – US military to train Kiev troops fighting in E. Ukraine – US Army commander – 11 February 2015

The Moscow Times – Russia’s Sudden Spate of Treason Cases Are Scare Tactic, Analysts Say – 10 February 2015

BBC – Ukraine crisis: ‘Don’t arm Kiev’ Russia warns US – 10 February 2015

The New York Times – High Treason, a New Russian Low – 9 February 2015

Death Toll in Ukraine Conflict Now Exceeds 5,300

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Managing Editor

KIEV, Ukraine – According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the overall death toll in the recent conflict in the Ukraine now exceeds 5,358 people. An additional 12,235 have been wounded since mid-April of last year. “The rebel offensive continues and civilians are dying on a daily basis,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement issued by his spokesperson. “Any further escalation will prove catastrophic for the 5.2 million people living in the midst of conflict in eastern Ukraine,” the high commissioner for Human Rights said.

Many civilians have fled fighting in Donetsk. since the start of the conflict more than 600,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, 400,000 of whom have fled to Russia. (Photo courtesy of BBC News)

Indiscriminate shelling has been reported in residential areas in government-controlled territories such as Debaltseve and Avdiivka and rebel-held cities such as Donetsk and Horlivka the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said. “Bus stops and public transport, marketplaces, schools and kindergartens, hospitals and residential areas have become battlegrounds in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine — in clear breach of international humanitarian law which governs the conduct of armed conflicts,” the high commissioner said in a statement. Last, the most deadly single incident involving civilians occurred in the southeastern city of Mariupol when two attacks were carried out using multiple-launch rocket systems that killed least 31 people and injured 112 others, the United Nations said.

Despite mounting evidence the Russian government denies denies accusations that it has been sending troops and supplying the pro-Russian rebels. Russian President Vladimir Putin blames the current conflict in the Ukraine is the fault of the west, he told an Egyptian newspaper that Western countries had broken pledges not to expand NATO and forced countries to choose between them and Russia.

Putin’s comments come amid new hopes for a peace deal this Wednesday. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande flew to Moscow on Friday to discuss proposals to end the fighting. The details of the proposed peace deal have not been released but the plan is believed to include a demilitarized zone of 50-70km (31-44 miles) around the current front lines of the conflict zone. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko reportedly spoke on the phone on Sunday, they announced that a four-way summit could be held Minsk, if the details were agreed before Wednesday.

Chancellor Merkel is expected to brief United States President Barack Obama in Washington D.C. later on Monday on the peace plan as the United considers broadening its role in the region, including the possibility of sending weapons to the Ukrainian government. Some U.S. officials, as well as senior Republicans including Senator John McCain, argue that some form of military support is necessary. However, Chancellor Merkel said she could not “imagine any situation in which improved equipment for the Ukrainian army leads to President Putin being so impressed that he believes he will lose militarily.”

The current crisis in eastern Ukraine began in late February 2014 stemming from an initial internal political crisis and degrading violent clashes in parts of the country and has now reached full scale conflict in the eastern region of the country. Despite the Minsk cease-fire, the situation in Ukraine has deteriorated.

For more information please see

BBC News – Ukraine conflict: Vladimir Putin renews blame on West – 9 February 2015

BBC News – Ukraine crisis: Hollande and Merkel in Putin talks – 6 February 2015

The United Nations News Centre – UN chief ‘gravely concerned’ as civilian death toll from Ukraine conflict continues to rise – 5 February 2015

CNN International – Civilians increasingly under fire as Ukraine devastation grows – 3 February

Push for US to Arm Ukrainian Military with New Minsk Talks Looming

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko are all working towards another meeting in Minsk, Belarus to discuss peace. The first such meeting led to a cease-fire, but that agreement has since broken down as fighting has dramatically increased in Eastern Ukraine once again.

Ukrainian troops positioned around Debaltseve, near Donetsk. (Photo courtesy of The Guardian)

 

One point that Ukraine is pushing for is monitored security on the border between Ukraine and Russia. This is due to evidence that has come in at several points over the past year that suggests Russia has sent weapons, troops, and vehicles to Eastern Ukraine for the rebels to use in their fight against Kiev. Regardless, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is eager to bring back peace to their neighboring country.

While these talks may not include the United States, the US is nonetheless considering sending lethal force to Ukraine to assist in fighting the pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine. Poroshenko says Ukraine would welcome more non-lethal aid such as “counter-barrage radar …, communications and radio jamming technology,” night-vision goggles, and radios. Further, Obama is set to meet with Merkel before she goes to Minsk for the new round of peace talks, likely to discuss and coordinate the United States’s plan and Europe’s plan.

Pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine, along with Russia, have been pushing for Eastern Ukraine to gain independence as their own nation – “New Russia.” Recently, rebels in the Donetsk region and the Luhansk region have been discussing working together in making this goal a reality, and Putin has pushed for international recognizance of independence. Kiev agreed in the original Minsk agreement to back off from Eastern Ukraine and grant more autonomy to the rebel-held territory, but given the recent violence and shifting of the front, Kiev is less willing to do so now and it will likely effect Kiev’s willingness to grant this again in the new Minsk talks.

For more information, please see:

Fox – Cruz pushes for US to arm Ukraine, as European leaders push for cease-fire – 8 February 2015

The Guardian – Ukraine conflict: four-nation peace talks in Minsk aim to end crisis – 8 February 2015

Yahoo – Putin-backed rebels just made a huge move right under Europe’s nose – 6 February 2015

BBC – Ukraine crisis: Pentagon ‘chief’ inclined to send weapons – 4 February 2015

One German on Trial and Another Being Investigated for Holocaust Involvement

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BERLIN, Germany – At least one German is facing charges for his involvement in the Holocaust, and another German woman may face charges for separate involvement in the Holocaust.

 

Oskar Groening is on trial for his alleged part in the atrocities that occurred at Auschwitz. (Photo courtesy of BBC)

Oskar Groening, the “accountant / bookkeeper of Auschwitz,” is being tried by prosecutors in Luneburg for his role in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. The former Waffen-SS member has already acknowledged being a guard at the camp, but claims he did not commit any atrocities. Groening states that he counted money and cleared luggage from Jews who came into the camp, and has expressed guilt for taking part in the “killing machine that eliminated millions of innocent people.” Around 1.1 million people are estimated to have died within Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Groening’s charges are for accessory to murder for at least 300,000 of the deaths.

Hilde Michnia, also 93-years-old, is now being investigated by prosecutors in Hamburg following a complaint by a private citizen. She is alleged to have been an SS guard in the Bergen-Belsen and Gross-Rosen concentration camps, and also alleged to have been part of evacuating Gross-Rosen and forcing the prisoners to march to the Guben labor camp. An estimated 1,400 women died in the march to the Guben labor camp.

Michnia denies such claims, stating that she merely worked in the kitchen in Bergen-Belsen, where at least 52,000 died. She further claims that she did not see “gaunt, starving and diseased prisoners,” stating she worked elsewhere in the camp. British occupying forces in Luneburg tried Michnia in 1945, particularly for beating two men who stole turnips from the kitchen. 44 other camp guards and SS members were also tried alongside her for cruelty towards prisoners, and she was sentenced to one year in prison.

For more information, please see:

AP – Germany investigates woman suspected of being SS guard – 2 February 2015

JTA – German woman, 93, under investigation for role as SS guard – 2 February 2015

The Guardian – 93-year-old German woman suspected of being Belsen SS guard – 2 February 2015

The Independent – 93-year-old woman investigated over claims she was Nazi SS guard who helped march 1,400 people to their deaths – 2 February 2015

BBC – Trial date set for ‘Auschwitz bookkeeper’ Groening – 2 February 2015