EspañolThe following press release was distributed to media today:
WASHINGTON DC, March 17, 2025 – Amsterdam & Partners LLP welcomes the recent decision by the the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to assign a trial observer to ensure that the rights of Ukrainian Parliamentarian Artem Dmytruk are observed and upheld in proceedings both in the United Kingdom and Ukraine.
Robert Amsterdam, the founding partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP and international counsel to Mr. Dmytruk, said that the IPU’s intervention could make a “life or death” difference in the case of his client.
“Mr. Dmytruk, as a member of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada, has committed no crime other than exercising his freedom of expression. And yet, as stated in our complaint, he has allegedly been severely punished, faced with death threats, and tortured,” said Amsterdam, adding that “we are encouraged by the the decision by the IPU Committee, which is among the first of international institutions to begin an inquiry into the facts of this case.”
Amsterdam continues: “We believe our complaint demonstrates undeniable merit concerning the mistreatment of our client by the Ukrainian regime.”
The decision by Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians describes the “dismissal of Mr. Dmytruk’s complaints by the Ukrainian police and Ministry of the Interior” as “seemingly unjustified” and states that it is “deeply concerned by the serious allegations of torture, threats, acts of intimidation and other violations that interfered with the exercise of Mr. Dmytruk’s parliamentary mandate”, questioning “the reason for the termination of his security detail”.
The decision also states that the IPU “urges all Ukrainian authorities that are relevant in this case to ensure that Mr. Dmytruk’s rights to a fair trial are respected in full, including by ensuring that he is provided with access to the case files as requested by his counsel.”
Furthermore, the IPU ”decides to send a trial observer to the legal proceedings in the United Kingdom and in Ukraine with a view to collecting information and reporting on how Mr. Dmytruk’s human rights are respected in the case at hand.”
The IPU complaint submitted by Amsterdam & Partners LLP includes the following alleged human rights violations in the case of Mr. Dmytruk:
- Enforced disappearance.
- Torture, ill-treatment and other acts of violence
- Threats, acts of intimidation
- Arbitrary arrest and detention
- Lack of due process in proceedings against parliamentarians
- Violation of freedom of opinion and expression
- Violation of freedom of movement
- Undue invalidation, suspension, revocation or other acts obstructing the exercise of the parliamentary mandate
- Other violations: discrimination
The Committee will now continue to examine the case and the organization’s Secretary General has been asked to “convey this decision to the Ukrainian parliamentary authorities (and) the relevant authorities of the United Kingdom.”
Mr. Amsterdam comments: “The Dmytruk case represents a very important example of the need to separate our bias from the facts regarding any cases flimsy accusations of ‘Pro-Russia’ sentiments. Of course legitimate claims can exist, however, we need to recognize when this pretext is being used to violate the law and violate human rights – which I argue is the case unfortunately in Ukraine today.”
More information is available on www.amsterdamandpartners.com and www.robertamsterdam.com.
