VP/HR — Human rights violations in Ukraine and lack of progress regarding the Odessa massacre

31.5.2016

Question for written answer E-004503-16
to the Commission (Vice-President/High Representative)
Rule 130
João Pimenta Lopes (GUE/NGL)

Just over two years have passed (the anniversary fell on 2 May) since the Odessa massacre, in Ukraine, a hideous, barbaric crime in which there were dozens of victims (about 40, including elderly people and women) and Communists, anti-fascists, and people's organisations were targeted in a brutal attack. Little or nothing has been done in the intervening two years to investigate the massacre and punish the perpetrators. Pressure and threats are being directed not just at the victims, but also at the judiciary, which has the duty of investigating these crimes and trying the culprits.

In addition, the rights and fundamental freedoms of Ukrainian citizens are continuing to be violated in Ukraine, as are human rights. The Ukrainian Communist Party has been banned, and its offices and activists are being subjected to persecution. Journalists are being imprisoned, and attempts have been made on the lives of intellectuals and other politicians; some have been murdered.

1. What is the Vice-President/High Representative's assessment of the earlier and recent events in which human rights and democratic freedoms have manifestly been curtailed and violated?

2. Given the above facts, how is the situation affecting relations between the EU and Ukraine, not least in the light of the agreements between them?