HRW Bashes Kiev Over ‘Cursory’ Probe Into Cluster Bombs Use

KIEV, December 3 (Sputnik) — Human Rights Watch's Executive Director Kenneth Roth on Wednesday lashed out at Kiev over its troops in eastern Ukraine using wide area munitions in densely populated zones.

Roth said the human rights watchdog was "disappointed" with the investigation conducted by the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office into the alleged use of cluster bombs and multiple-barrel rocket launchers by government's armed forces.

Roth said HRW had held "conversations with the Defense Ministry. They have not denied these weapons are used, but they did contest the particular cases that we were told."

"We are disappointed in the meeting with the general prosecutor who did investigate some of these cases but did a cursory investigation," Roth stressed.

In October, HRW released a report that proved the claims of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics who had accused Ukrainian troops of firing cluster munitions at residential areas. The watchdog said cluster munitions were used in the October 2 shelling of Donetsk by Ukrainian forces that killed a Red Cross worker.

Cluster munitions contain dozens or hundreds of submunitions, which spread over a wide area, endangering anyone in the vicinity. So far, 114 countries have joined a UN treaty banning such munitions. Ukraine is not a party to the agreement.

HRW Concerned About Abuses by Ukraine’s Volunteer Battalions

Human Rights Watch's Executive Director Kenneth Roth on Wednesday expressed deep concern about "numerous abuses" committed by pro-Kiev volunteer battalions operating in the country's southeast.

"We have been deeply concerned about abuses by voluntary battalions… It's a good step that the government is incorporating them under the Defense or Interior Ministries. But it is important that that not simply be a formality, but that real discipline and real compliance with Geneva conventions be imposed by government".

This comment came after the Ukrainian defense minister announced in November he was going to put these all-volunteer divisions, widely known to be far-right in their ideology, under the command of the country's regular army.

Ukrainian volunteer battalions, such as Donbas, Azov and Dnipr, were formed in April after Kiev launched a military operation against militias in eastern Ukraine. Amnesty International said in September that the Ukrainian government is responsible for the war crimes and human rights violations committed by volunteers.

HRW Urges Kiev to Resume Social Payments to East Ukraine Residents

Human Rights Watch's Executive Director Kenneth Roth urged Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday to find a way to transfer funds from which social benefits are paid to militia-held areas.

Roth said the global human rights watchdog was worried about Kiev's decision to halt social funding for residents in the country's east. He said Human Rights Watch (HRW) "understand the rationale" behind the government's unwillingness to "ship the cash into the territories controlled by separatists," but said there were socially vulnerable groups there whose survival depended on this money.

"There are many people who are dependent on pension payments or institutions they live in are run by the government. So it is important for the government to find some way to provide basic support for people who are dependent on these payments," Roth said.

At the same time, the HRW chief lauded Kiev's determination to continue supplying electricity and gas to the turbulent Donetsk and Luhansk regions which he described as a "good decision".

In November, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ordered to stop financing and shut down all government institutions in eastern areas that are under the control of anti-Kiev militias. A presidential decree also terminated banking services in the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR), freezing the accounts of people and companies, in what DPR prime minister said equaled an economic blockade.

The measure effectively cut government funding of pensions and social benefits to everyone in the region, leaving schools, health organizations and emergency services stranded.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later called Poroshenko's decision an attempt to "choke the region" in the wake of another military intrusion.