Deputized As Election Monitors, Ukrainian Ultranationalists 'Ready To Punch' Violators
By Christopher Miller
KYIV -- They patrol the streets of the Ukrainian capital in matching urban camouflage and march in lockstep through Kyiv with torches.
They attack minority groups, including Roma and LGBT people. And some of them have trained with visiting American White supremacists.
They are the ultranationalist National Militia, street vigilantes with roots in the battle-tested Azov Battalion that emerged to defend Ukraine against Russia-backed separatists but was also accused of possible war crimes and neo-Nazi sympathies.
If we need to punch someone in the face in the name of justice, we will do this without hesitation."-- Ihor Mikhailenko, commander of the National Militia
Yet despite the controversy surrounding it, the National Militia was granted permission by the Central Election Commission to officially monitor Ukraine's presidential election on March 31.
Now the commission appears to be rethinking that decision after the group's spokesman warned that its members will take matters into their own hands and use force in instances where law enforcement "fails" to stop election fraud.
"If law enforcers turn a blind eye to outright violations and don't want to document them," spokesman Ihor Vdovin vowed on March 6, the group will follow the instructions of its commander, Ihor Mikhailenko, who wrote on Telegram, "If we need to punch someone in the face in the name of justice, we will do this without hesitation."
'Only Police Can Use Force'
That call prompted the election commission to appeal to the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) to assess the seriousness of the threat. And while it didn't threaten to revoke the National Militia's monitoring authority, the commission said it considers violence "inadmissible."
So far, the SBU has not commented on the matter.
The threats of force alarmed some activists and law enforcement bodies.
Ukraine Urged To Protect Women’s Solidarity Events From Violent Attacks
By RFE/RL
Amnesty International is urging the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that participants in events marking International Women’s Day on March 8 are “protected from violence.”
One of these events, dubbed The First Wreath: The Reunion Of Women’s Solidarity, is organized by activist Vitalina Koval and Amnesty International Ukraine in the western city of Uzhhorod.
For the past two years, feminist events organized by Koval on International Women’s Day have been met with violence from far-right groups, the London-based human rights watchdog said in a statement on March 7.
Last year, Koval was “attacked with red paint by members of a violent group at the solidarity event and sustained burns to her eyes,” it added.
The Ukrainian authorities’ “failure to ensure adequate protection” has led to “injuries to peaceful attendees at solidarity events,” said Oksana Pokalchuk, director of Amnesty International Ukraine.
“They have no excuse to fail again,” Pokalchuk added, urging the authorities to “take every reasonable measure to guarantee the right to peaceful assembly and the safety of participants in events marking International Women’s Day across the country.”
In February, Ukraine Amnesty International blasted the Ukrainian authorities’ failure to prevent or investigate “numerous” human rights violations committed last year against rights activists -- in particular those defending the rights of women and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community -- political opponents, and ethnic minorities.
“Hate-motivated groups in Ukraine who attack human rights activists, political opponents, and ethnic minorities believe they can do so with impunity, and the authorities’ past inaction and ineffective investigations have bolstered this belief,” according to Pokalchuk.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
