[ad_1]
Kateryna Handziuk, a 33-year-old Ukrainian anti-corruption activist and political advisor, died Sunday after being seriously injured during an acid attack that took place in July.
Handziuk, counselor to the mayor of Kherson and critic of the local police, was severely burned to more than one-third of the body after being sprinkled with a liter of sulfuric acid in front of his home in Kherson, in the south East of the country.
She was battling injuries in a Kiev hospital, where she underwent 11 operations.
Five suspects were arrested for their alleged involvement, but no other information was disclosed about the perpetrator of the attack.
From his hospital bed and covered with burns, Handziuk had recently called on the government to investigate the growing attacks against militants.
The police initially described the case as "hooliganism", but after the public uproar, it was changed to "attempted murder with extreme cruelty".
Local and international human rights groups have recorded more than 55 unresolved attacks against activists – including Handziuk – since the beginning of 2017.
President Petro Poroshenko on Sunday called on law enforcement to do "all that is possible" to find and punish Handziuk 's killers.
But activists say his words are too few and too late.
Marya Guryeva, Amnesty International Ukraine, told Al Jazeera: "The situation has been deteriorating for about a year, many attacks are centered on identity, and have been perpetrated by terrorist groups. far right against LGBTs and Roma also occur against anti-corruption activists ".
Natalia Shopavlova, a Ukrainian expert from Carnegie Europe, told Al Jazeera: "Activists are campaigning against corruption, they are naming the names of those who are behind illegal constructions. try to silence them. "
In one case, on October 4, politician Sergiy Gusovsky was sprinkled with antiseptic fluid and beaten at Kyiv City Council as a result of his speech at a rally.
Gusovsky told Al Jazeera that he had been attacked for opposing various investment agreements, highlighting his efforts to challenge the construction of 25 buildings in Echo Park in Kiev for ecological reasons .
"If an attack inside the Kyiv City Council can not be stopped, it is impossible to protect a public figure," he said.
"The people who order the attacks are never brought to justice"
About two weeks earlier, anti-corruption activist Oleg Mikhaylik was in critical condition after being hit in the chest by an unidentified assailant in Odessa, in the south-east of the country.
On the day of the shooting, he protested against the illegal construction of Lanzheron Beach.
Mikhaylik, who is currently confined to the home for security reasons, heads the local branch of the People's Power movement and has recently announced as a candidate for the 2020 mayoral elections.
He told Al Jazeera that he thought the attack had been organized by the local authorities.
Activists say the police rarely investigate attacks, creating a climate conducive to violence.
"The people who order the attacks are never brought to justice, and in the last nine months only one case has been investigated and closed, and ninety-nine per cent of the time there is impunity," he said. Amtourian Guryeva.
Shopavlova of Carnegie Europe added: "The lack of investigations reflects inadequate reform of the judiciary and corruption – the biggest problem Ukraine faces today."
Dmytro Bulakh, head of the Kharkiv anti-corruption center, has been attacked several times, apparently for his anti-corruption work. More recently, in August 2017, unknown assailants punched him in the head and broke three ribs. He was hospitalized for nine days.
"Vengeance for our attempts"
President Poroshenko presented what he calls a Western-style reform aimed at cleaning up the judiciary, starting in mid-2016.
However, his critics see these actions as an effort to establish control over the courts and to ensure impunity for corrupt senior officials.
According to Bulakh, the government considers civic activists as opponents. "I am convinced that the passivity of the government is a kind of revenge for our attempts to rid the country of corruption and create accountability. "
In recent months, protesters have gathered in front of Ukrainian government buildings as part of a campaign called "Silence Kills", urging the authorities to properly investigate the attacks.
After a rally in September, the Attorney General of Ukraine and President of the Presidency, Yuri Lutsenko, said that the activists were partly responsible for the acts of violence, as they created a "climate of total hatred in the country". With regard to the authorities ".
But according to Amnesty Guryeva, officials are not doing enough to react.
"There are hardly any public statements, and it is only after a strong resonance in the country that politicians have tweeted." "You can expect that they will condemn them." out loud such acts. "
[ad_2]Source link
