Ukraine Anniversary Briefing
Ukraine’s Human Rights Challenges Will Persist Beyond Any Peace Deal
Local activists in Ukraine warn that whether or not ongoing peace talks with Russia produce a breakthrough, many of the country’s most serious human rights challenges will persist long after the fighting ends.
This report examines seven pressing human rights issues that confront Ukraine today and are likely to endure beyond any ceasefire or peace deal. Local Human Rights Defenders urge that international attention not fade from these issues once the fighting stops. Drawing on their assessments, this report considers how each of these issues might develop in a post-conflict environment.
Russia launched its initial invasion of Ukraine twelve years ago, followed by its full-scale invasion four years ago. Russia’s two invasions have resulted in widespread war crimes, including the killing of thousands of civilians, mass displacement, the bombing of heating and other infrastructure, and torture under occupation.
Human Rights First has been working alongside Human Rights Defenders in Ukraine since the Russian invasion of 2014. Since the 2022 invasion, Human Rights First has focused its work on the eastern front of the war, in and around the northwestern region of Kharkiv. Since the February 2022 invasion Human Rights First has made 25 visits to Ukraine, documenting war crimes, evacuating vulnerable civilians from communities under fire, and reporting on the efforts of local human rights activists providing humanitarian aid, fighting corruption and discrimination, and addressing the mental health crisis.
Human Rights First has worked for decades with activists in conflict zones and during revolutions, and understands how difficult it is to look beyond the immediate crisis, and to start planning for what has become known as “The Day After.”
This report begins that forward-looking assessment. Ukraine will face a multitude of challenges, including what will happen if some of its citizens remain under Russian occupation, and redefining its relationships with the United States and the European Union. The country will also have to restart its economy, and to clear vast areas of its land contaminated by land mines.3 This report focuses on seven of those challenges: the prosecution of war crimes, corruption, the disinformation war, LGBTQI+ rights, the mental health crisis, the issue of suspected collaborators, and refugees who have left Ukraine being forced to return.
