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Human rights situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate — Moscow

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the rights of internally displaced persons, Russian-speaking people and national minorities are violated in Ukraine

MOSCOW, July 17. /TASS/. Ukraine has systemic problems in the human rights domain, but its government is reluctant to fix the existing violations, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a report on the issue.

"The human rights situation in Ukraine continues to deteriorate. Kiev is adopting legislative acts that run counter to the national legislation and international obligations," the ministry said in the document, released on Thursday.

"Rights activists report systemic violations of basic human rights and freedoms. Political opponents, independent journalists and media outlets, members of public organizations who are out of favor with the authorities are being persecuted, and the need to counter the ‘Russian aggression’ and separatism is cited as a reason," the document said.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the rights of internally displaced persons, Russian-speaking people and national minorities are violated in Ukraine. Priests and followers of the canonic Ukrainian Orthodox Church are subjected to persecution.

"The right for freedom and personal security is not being observed. Numerous cases of unlawful detention, torture, intimidation, cruel treatment and sexual violence - including with an aim to coerce a person into [falsely] admitting the guilt or cooperating - are taking place in the country," the report’s authors said.

The ministry said that the numerous human rights issues existing in Ukraine have also been noted by many international human rights organizations, as well as international and Ukrainian non-governmental organizations.

"All those bodies noted the systemic nature of human rights issues in Ukraine and stated with concern that the exposed problems require most careful attention on behalf of the authorities, and most serious effort in order to be solved. However, the way the events unfold demonstrates the Ukrainian government’s reluctance to engage in fixing the existing serious violations in the human rights domain," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

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