MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) — The Council of Europe is not investigating crimes in Ukraine as such, but its International Advisory Panel (IAP) is overseeing the investigation of the human rights violations in Odessa and during the Maidan riots, Spokesperson of Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Daniel Holtgen told RIA Novosti.
"The IAP was created to oversee the investigations of violations against the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) during the Maidan, and its mandate was extended to cover Odessa," Holtgen said, noting that the final report is expected in early 2015.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that in order to reach national reconciliation in Ukraine, there should be a fair investigation into all the high-profile crimes of recent months. The minister mentioned the cases of robbery during the Maidan riots in February this year, the events in Odessa, Mariupol, the Malaysian flight MH17 crash and the discovery of mass graves in the Donetsk region.
He also said that "judging by the fact that no progress has been made in investigating these incidents, it is possibly time for international organizations, such as the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the United Nations… to take responsibility for ensuring an unbiased and fair investigation."
Moscow has repeatedly highlighted the importance of a thorough, transparent international investigation into all the named incidents. However, Kiev officials have insisted on conducting their own investigations, which have not yielded any results.
