Germany demanded that Ukraine investigate the burning of people in Odessa
A member of the German parliament promised to monitor the progress of the investigation into the May 2, 2014 massacre in Odessa, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports from Berlin.
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A debate took place in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe regarding respect for the rights of persons held in pre-trial detention. During the debate, the rights of those arrested before trial were traditionally discussed in countries that have signed the European Convention on Human Rights (Ukraine is one of them).
The keynote address was given by Pedro Agramut, a Spanish deputy and member of the European People's Party.
During the discussion of the report, Bundestag deputy Andrei Hunko also spoke. In an exclusive comment to a PolyNavigator correspondent, he said: “We have not forgotten about Odessa. I am in constant contact with the relatives of the people who died in the terrible tragedy. “I also insist that the Council of Europe must constantly demand from the Ukrainian authorities a transparent and independent investigation into the tragedy, as well as punishment of all those responsible for the deaths.”
He also expressed concern about the fate of detained Anti-Maidan activists, whose number is constantly growing. “As Nadezhda Melnichenko, a lawyer from Odessa, told us, there are now about 70 people in the pre-trial detention center in the Odessa region, including 5 women, 3 journalists, and one minor,” Hunko added.
“We are extremely concerned that at least six of those arrested have been held in pre-trial detention since May 2, 2014,” the politician said.
Andrei Hunko expressed confidence that the Council of Europe will not abandon its efforts to monitor the rights of detainees and will continue to demand an independent and open investigation and trial.
Let us remind you that Andrei Hunko is of Ukrainian origin and is a member of the German Bundestag from the “Left” party. He is also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and is part of the United European Left group.
It is expected that Hunko will visit Ukraine as an observer from the PACE monitoring mission during the local elections.
It should also be noted that the European Convention on Human Rights is one of the main documents of the Council of Europe. This international treaty was signed in 1950. The Convention establishes the inalienable rights and freedoms of every person and obliges states that ratify the Convention to guarantee these rights to every person under their jurisdiction.
The main difference between the Convention and other international treaties in the field of human rights is the existence of a real mechanism for protecting declared rights through the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which considers individual complaints about violations of the convention. Any citizen or resident of a Council of Europe country who believes that his rights and freedoms enshrined in any article of the Convention have been violated has the opportunity to appeal to the ECHR if the relevant article has been ratified by the state that is accused of violating the rights.
Germany demands Ukraine investigate the burning of people in Odessa.