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| Abuse Claims in Ukraine Rise Among Protesters | Abuse Claims in Ukraine Rise Among Protesters |
| (7 months later) | |
| KIEV, Ukraine — Alarm mounted on Friday among Western diplomats and rights groups over the scale and severity of abuses during the civil unrest in Ukraine after an antigovernment protest leader who had been missing for a week stumbled out of a snowy forest to say he had been crucified. | |
| The activist, Dmytro Bulatov, said his captors had nailed his hands to a door after holding him in a dark room and beating him for days. | The activist, Dmytro Bulatov, said his captors had nailed his hands to a door after holding him in a dark room and beating him for days. |
| Mr. Bulatov, 35, who owns a garage in Kiev, said an ear and cheek had been cut with a knife and that his captors had threatened to gouge an eye out. “There is no place on my body that doesn’t hurt,” he said. | Mr. Bulatov, 35, who owns a garage in Kiev, said an ear and cheek had been cut with a knife and that his captors had threatened to gouge an eye out. “There is no place on my body that doesn’t hurt,” he said. |
| He spoke from his hospital bed in a video released online by fellow protesters. But the drama continued at the hospital, a private clinic in Kiev. As police officers arrived to investigate the kidnapping, other officers came for another purpose — to arrest Mr. Bulatov on charges of causing a public disturbance during the protests. | He spoke from his hospital bed in a video released online by fellow protesters. But the drama continued at the hospital, a private clinic in Kiev. As police officers arrived to investigate the kidnapping, other officers came for another purpose — to arrest Mr. Bulatov on charges of causing a public disturbance during the protests. |
| Opposition lawmakers at the hospital, however, talked the second group of officers out of making an arrest. | Opposition lawmakers at the hospital, however, talked the second group of officers out of making an arrest. |
| The demonstrations that have roiled the Ukrainian capital for two months seem to be taking a darker, ominous hue as reports of beatings and abductions of demonstrators and activists, once seen as isolated, if unnerving, are now made quite regularly. | The demonstrations that have roiled the Ukrainian capital for two months seem to be taking a darker, ominous hue as reports of beatings and abductions of demonstrators and activists, once seen as isolated, if unnerving, are now made quite regularly. |
| Four protesters died during clashes with the police, and hundreds have been arrested. Evidence is mounting that the authorities or their surrogates have kidnapped, beaten or even tortured demonstrators. Human Rights Watch issued a statement Friday documenting 13 instances in which the police beat journalists or emergency workers during clashes last week, and noted dozens of other reported cases. | Four protesters died during clashes with the police, and hundreds have been arrested. Evidence is mounting that the authorities or their surrogates have kidnapped, beaten or even tortured demonstrators. Human Rights Watch issued a statement Friday documenting 13 instances in which the police beat journalists or emergency workers during clashes last week, and noted dozens of other reported cases. |
| “It’s possible to accidentally hit one journalist or medic during violent confrontations, but not dozens,” Anna Neistat, a program director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement. “Police faced enormous challenges during the street fighting, but there’s no excuse for deliberately targeting reporters and medics.” | “It’s possible to accidentally hit one journalist or medic during violent confrontations, but not dozens,” Anna Neistat, a program director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement. “Police faced enormous challenges during the street fighting, but there’s no excuse for deliberately targeting reporters and medics.” |
| EuroMaidan SOS, a group that tracks missing people, now counts 27 protesters as missing, not including Mr. Bulatov and two others, Ihor Lutsenko and Yuri Verbytsky, who were found in the same wooded area outside Kiev last week. Mr. Lutsenko survived, but Mr. Verbytsky froze to death after his release. | EuroMaidan SOS, a group that tracks missing people, now counts 27 protesters as missing, not including Mr. Bulatov and two others, Ihor Lutsenko and Yuri Verbytsky, who were found in the same wooded area outside Kiev last week. Mr. Lutsenko survived, but Mr. Verbytsky froze to death after his release. |
| The protests began in November after President Viktor F. Yanukovych rejected a free-trade agreement with the European Union and turned to Russia for financial assistance instead. No direct evidence ties the government to abductions. | The protests began in November after President Viktor F. Yanukovych rejected a free-trade agreement with the European Union and turned to Russia for financial assistance instead. No direct evidence ties the government to abductions. |
| Mr. Yanukovych’s government has lately been offering concessions to its opponents. On Friday, a day after Mr. Yanukovych announced that he had gone on sick leave, he signed two measures into law — an amnesty for protesters and a bill that rolled back recent restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly. | Mr. Yanukovych’s government has lately been offering concessions to its opponents. On Friday, a day after Mr. Yanukovych announced that he had gone on sick leave, he signed two measures into law — an amnesty for protesters and a bill that rolled back recent restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly. |
| Andrei Telizhenko, a friend of Mr. Bulatov who picked him up at the house where he had gone to call for help, then drove him to a hospital, said in an interview that Mr. Bulatov’s hands were punctured with wounds about the diameter of knitting needles. | Andrei Telizhenko, a friend of Mr. Bulatov who picked him up at the house where he had gone to call for help, then drove him to a hospital, said in an interview that Mr. Bulatov’s hands were punctured with wounds about the diameter of knitting needles. |
| Mr. Bulatov had been nailed to a door and left for several hours with his head covered in a bag, Mr. Telizhenko said. His captors asked how the protests were being financed and suggested that Western governments were playing a role. In particular, Mr. Telizhenko said, they asked, “‘What orders do you take from the United States ambassador?’” | Mr. Bulatov had been nailed to a door and left for several hours with his head covered in a bag, Mr. Telizhenko said. His captors asked how the protests were being financed and suggested that Western governments were playing a role. In particular, Mr. Telizhenko said, they asked, “‘What orders do you take from the United States ambassador?’” |
| On the drive to the hospital, Mr. Telizhenko said, his friend was in a state of shock, sometimes seeming aware of his surroundings, and sometimes not. At one point, according to Mr. Telizhenko, Mr. Bulatov said, “I want to go fishing.” | On the drive to the hospital, Mr. Telizhenko said, his friend was in a state of shock, sometimes seeming aware of his surroundings, and sometimes not. At one point, according to Mr. Telizhenko, Mr. Bulatov said, “I want to go fishing.” |
| Doctors who treated him at the clinic, the Borys hospital, declined to discuss his wounds in detail; the hospital director said Mr. Bulatov had been moved from intensive care on Friday morning and was in “satisfactory” condition. Later Friday, though, he had been transferred back into intensive care to discourage the police from making the disorderly conduct arrest. | Doctors who treated him at the clinic, the Borys hospital, declined to discuss his wounds in detail; the hospital director said Mr. Bulatov had been moved from intensive care on Friday morning and was in “satisfactory” condition. Later Friday, though, he had been transferred back into intensive care to discourage the police from making the disorderly conduct arrest. |
| With the police on contradictory missions, and politicians and activists in the corridors, the hospital became a tense, confused place, illustrating, perhaps, the widening schisms and uncertainty in this country. | With the police on contradictory missions, and politicians and activists in the corridors, the hospital became a tense, confused place, illustrating, perhaps, the widening schisms and uncertainty in this country. |
| Among those at the hospital were Vitali Klitschko, the former boxing champion and leader of the opposition Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform party, who is scheduled, along with other opposition leaders to meet with Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday at a conference on European security in Munich. Ukraine is expected to dominate discussions at the conference. | Among those at the hospital were Vitali Klitschko, the former boxing champion and leader of the opposition Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform party, who is scheduled, along with other opposition leaders to meet with Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday at a conference on European security in Munich. Ukraine is expected to dominate discussions at the conference. |
| “What they did to Dmytro is an attempt to intimidate all politically active citizens,” Mr. Klitschko said in a statement. | “What they did to Dmytro is an attempt to intimidate all politically active citizens,” Mr. Klitschko said in a statement. |
| The Interior Ministry on Friday posted Mr. Bulatov’s photograph and name on its wanted list. Separately, it issued a statement saying he and his relatives had not cooperated in the investigation into his abduction. | The Interior Ministry on Friday posted Mr. Bulatov’s photograph and name on its wanted list. Separately, it issued a statement saying he and his relatives had not cooperated in the investigation into his abduction. |
| The episode, however, prompted sharp responses from Western governments. Stefan Fule, the European Union minister who oversees the joining of new members, posted on Twitter a demand for an immediate investigation into the Bulatov case and others involving charges of abuse of activists. “Urge authorities to act swiftly on kidnapping and torture,” Mr. Fule wrote. “This kind of violence and impunity is deplorable and must stop now.” | The episode, however, prompted sharp responses from Western governments. Stefan Fule, the European Union minister who oversees the joining of new members, posted on Twitter a demand for an immediate investigation into the Bulatov case and others involving charges of abuse of activists. “Urge authorities to act swiftly on kidnapping and torture,” Mr. Fule wrote. “This kind of violence and impunity is deplorable and must stop now.” |
| The American ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, said on Twitter that “we are extremely relieved that Dmytro Bulatov is alive, but shocked and outraged at the torture inflicted upon him.” | The American ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, said on Twitter that “we are extremely relieved that Dmytro Bulatov is alive, but shocked and outraged at the torture inflicted upon him.” |