[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] said Sunday that both Ukrainian militia and separatist forces may be responsible for war crimes [press release], with all sides of the conflict showing disregard for civilian lives. AI Secretary General Salil Shetty called on the involved parties to stop all violations of the laws of war and respect their international obligations. Evidence of indiscriminate shelling, abductions, torture and killings in eastern Ukraine was documented by AI researchers, who also interviewed civilians fleeing from fighting in eastern Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees in the Rostov region of Russia. The report went on to accuse Russia of “fueling the conflict,” revealing satellite images [materials] that show new Russian artillery positions being established within the Ukrainian border. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied allegations of assisting anti-government soldiers in eastern Ukraine. A ceasefire agreement was reached [RT report] on Friday when Kiev officials met with representatives of Lugansk and Donetsk, the two self-proclaimed republics of southeastern Ukraine, in Belarus, though forces on each side have accused each other of already violating the truce.

The ongoing conflict [BBC timeline; JURIST backgrounder] in Ukraine [JURIST news archive] has escalated [AP report] recently with no immediate end in sight. Late last month former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] announced the findings [JURIST report] of a report detailing the harsh war-like conditions in eastern Ukraine that have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians in recent weeks. In July,the UN OCHR issued a report [JURIST report] documenting the continuing deterioration of the human rights situation in Ukraine and calling for greater care to prevent civilian causalities in the region. Earlier that month, Amnesty International cited [JURIST report] mounting evidence of abductions and violence against activists, protestors and journalists in eastern Ukraine. In June the OHCHR issued a report [JURIST report] on Ukraine that described increasing evidence of a breakdown in law and order in the country.