Police criminality endemic in Ukraine

The Ukrainian authorities must act immediately to deal with endemic police criminality, widespread torture, extortion, and arbitrary detention.

The Amnesty International report, No evidence of a crime: Paying the price for police impunity in Ukraine, reveals how police are rarely punished for these crimes because of high levels of corruption, non-existent or flawed investigations, harassment and intimidation of complainants, and a low level of prosecutions for such crimes.

"Twenty years after the demise of the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian police are still serving the state instead of the public. Ordinary Ukrainians are paying the price, many of whom have become victims of bribery and forced confessions," said Heather McGill, Amnesty International's expert on Ukraine.

"It is high time the Ukrainian authorities set up an independent agency to investigate all allegations against police officers and tackled the culture of impunity and corruption that prevails.