On 2 July, during Kyiv Pechersk Court attempt to arrest a chief of staff of the Aydar battalion Valentin Likholit, several hundred veterans of the War for Independence and public figures protested in Khreshchatyk. They repelled Likholit without allowing him to be imprisoned illegally.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fakty.ua/219028-arest-kombata-ajdara-sprovociroval-besporyadki-v-centre-kieva-foto|title=Арест комбата "Айдара" спровоцировал беспорядки в Печерском суде и на Крещатике (фото, видео)|date=2 July 2016|publisher=Факты и комментарии|language=ru}}</ref> On the same day, on [[Maidan Nezalezhnosti]] (Independence Square), Patriots’ Liberation Headquarters was proclaimed to be established.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tsn.ua/video/video-novini/naperedodni-na-maydani-nezalezhnosti-z-protestom-zibralisya-blizko-dvoh-soten-lyudey.html|title=НАПЕРЕДОДНІ НА МАЙДАНІ НЕЗАЛЕЖНОСТІ З ПРОТЕСТОМ ЗІБРАЛИСЯ БЛИЗЬКО ДВОХ СОТЕНЬ ЛЮДЕЙ|date=4 July 2016|publisher=TCH|language=uk}}</ref> The main task was to provide legal and moral support to illegally imprisoned and repressed volunteers and patriots. At the meeting, when Patriots' Liberation Headquarters was established, three activity directions were announced: discharge from custody unlawfully or illegally imprisoned combatants; dismiss [[Anatolii Matios|Anatoliy Matios]], a military [[prosecutor]]; arrest and imprison people who contributed to Putin's aggression against Ukraine: in particular, Medvedchuk, [[Rinat Akhmetov|Akhmetov]], Boyko, [[Vadym Novynskyi|Novinskyi]], Yefremov, etc. Veterans from the Internal Corps of the Donbas Battalion are actively visiting court sessions concerning volunteer soldiers throughout Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2016/12/16/7130105/|title=Ветераны-добровольцы объявили ультиматум из-за пленных|date=16 December 2016|publisher=Українська правда|language=ru}}</ref>
==Human rights violations==
The [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights|OHCHR]] reported that in August–September 2014 eight or ten members of the Donbas and [[Azov Battalion|Azov]] battalions sexually assaulted a man with a mental disability.<ref name="ohchr2016ru">{{cite web |url=https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_14th_HRMMU_Report_RUSSIAN.pdf |title=Доклад о ситуации с правами человека в Украине 16 февраля 2016 г. — 15 мая 2016 г. |publisher=United Nations |access-date=2018-09-24}}</ref><ref name="ohchr20167en">{{cite web |url=https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_14th_HRMMU_Report.pdf |title=Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 February 2016 to 15 May 2016 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=2018-09-24}}</ref> After the different forms of violence (including cruel treatment and rape), the victim's health significantly deteriorated and he was taken to psychiatric clinic. The issue brought the attention of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Association "Forbidden to Forbid".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://forbiddentoforbid.org.ua/ru/oon-ukazyvaet-na-seksualnye-prestup/ |title=ООН указывает на сексуальные преступления со стороны украинской стороны в АТО |publisher=Межфракционное депутатское объединение «В защиту нарушенных конституционных прав граждан и против политических репрессий «Запрещено запрещать» |access-date=2018-09-24 |archive-date=17 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417071220/http://forbiddentoforbid.org.ua/ru/oon-ukazyvaet-na-seksualnye-prestup/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://forbiddentoforbid.org.ua/en/the-un-took-notice-of-sex-offenses-committed-by-ukrainian-side-during-the-anti-terrorist-operation/ |title=The UN took notice of sex offenses committed by Ukrainian side during the Anti-Terrorist Operation |publisher=The Interfactional Parliamentary Association "For the Protection of Violated Rights of Citizens and Against Political Repression "Forbidden to Forbid" |access-date=2018-09-24 |archive-date=17 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170417071117/http://forbiddentoforbid.org.ua/en/the-un-took-notice-of-sex-offenses-committed-by-ukrainian-side-during-the-anti-terrorist-operation/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 2016, according to the OHCHR, five fighters of the battalion were taken to court and accused of different criminal activities committed against civilian population: [[banditry]], abduction, [[armed robbery]], extortion, [[hooliganism]] and illegal possession of weapons. However, after a political pressure put on the judges by the former commander of the Donbas battalion and three other parliamentarians, they were released.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/UAReport16th_RU.pdf |title=Доклад о ситуации с правами человека в Украине 16 августа – 15 ноября 2016 г. |publisher=United Nations |access-date=2018-09-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/UAReport16th_EN.pdf |title=Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 August to 15 November 2016 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=2018-09-24}}</ref>
A [[United Nations|UN]] monitoring mission in Ukraine reported that during the [[Battle of Ilovaisk]] in 2014, the Donbas battalion took part in ill-treatment and torture of male population of the city, aged 30 to 66. From August 18 to 28, in 2014, the majority of victims were locked in school No. 14 by members of Donbas battalion. The conditions of the incarceration may amount to ill-treatment, some victims were subjected to beatings, regarding thirteen of them the [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]] has documented cases of torture. All detained ones who were interviewed by the UN officers told they were beaten with intention to extract confessions that they were affiliated with rebel forces. After the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Ilovaisk, a grave with three bodies was exhumed in the backyard of Ilovaisk school No. 14 where the Donbas battalion had been stationed. The UN monitoring mission identified the victims as local civilians. According to the forensic reports, two of them had signs of firearm wounds on their bodies, and third had likely died as a result of shelling.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/ReportOnIlovaisk_EN.pdf |title = Human rights violations and abuses and international humanitarian law violations committed in the context of the Ilovaisk events in August 2014 |website = www.ohchr.org |publisher = United Nations |access-date = 2018-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/ReportOnIlovaisk_RU.pdf |title = Нарушения прав человека и международного гуманитарного права в контексте событий под Иловайском в августе 2014 года |website = www.ohchr.org |publisher = United Nations |access-date = 2018-08-27}}</ref>
==References== |