The escalation of hostilities in Eastern Ukraine between January and February has had a devastating impact on the lives of civilians, according to a UN report [text, PDF] released Wednesday. The unrest has reportedly caused several deaths and numerous injuries, deprived tens of thousands of basic needs, and caused damage to homes. Military presence continues to escalate the situation [press release] as citizens are locked in-between checkpoints and cut off from basic human needs, health rights, education, and stores. The report urges the government to enact new legislation to promote equal protection for all civilians and provide access to health benefits, bare necessities, and social security. The report also discusses the abusive treatment of detainees in Crimea, whose human rights are allegedly being violated through torture tactics, mandatory psychiatric treatment, speech restriction, and inference with legal counsel. The report also documents government and military groups attempt to prohibit anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian forms of media. Civilians are reported to have a high distrust for the judicial system because high-level officials are not held accountable for actions that violate the law. The UN Human Rights Office urged officials to continue with steps toward the implementation a state policy dictating the living standards of civilians living in territory controlled by armed groups.

Russia and Ukraine have been in conflict since the annexation of Crimea [JURIST backgrounder] in March 2014. Earlier this month Ukraine petitioned [JURIST report] the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] to bar Russia from “any action which might aggravate” the contentious border conflict between the two nations. In January Ukraine filed suit with the ICJ against Russia for alleged acts of terrorism and discrimination. In December the UN reported [JURIST report] that Ukrainian citizens were suffering because of failure by both Ukraine and separatist fighters to take precautions, “resulting in damage to schools, kindergartens, and medical facilities” and farmland. Human rights groups reported [JURIST report] in July that Ukraine government officials and pro-Russia separatists have both subjected citizens to arbitrary detentions and torture.