In September 2014, in a letter sent to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the Permanent Representation of Ukraine to the Council of Europe, while underlining that the main focus of the Panel’s work should continue to be the Maidan-related investigations, confirmed the Ukrainian Government’s acceptance that the tragic events of 2 May 2014 in Odesa should also be covered by the Panel’s Mandate. The letter went on to indicate that the Mandate would be fulfilled on completion of the Panel’s review of those two investigations.

In its subsequent public briefing of 15 September 2014, the Panel confirmed that it would begin its review of the authorities’ investigations into the violent events in Odesa of 2 May 2014 as soon as the Maidan-related work of the Panel had reached an advanced stage of completion.

The Panel has now commenced its review of the investigations into the violent events in Odesa of 2 May 2014 by sending requests for information principally to the relevant investigative authorities.

The Panel’s Mandate provides that civil society shall have the right to contact and communicate freely with the Panel. The Panel therefore welcomes submissions from the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) concerning the adequacy of the investigations into the events that took place in Odesa on 2 May 2014. Submissions from the NGOs should comply with the Guidelines of the Panel set out below.

The Panel recalls that its function is to oversee that the investigations into those violent incidents meet all the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights and the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. It is not therefore tasked with carrying out investigations itself. Consequently, it will not accept or respond to individual complaints about violent acts which should be forwarded to the competent authorities.

Guidelines of the International Advisory Panel concerning submissions to it from NGOs

The Panel hereby informs non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that, should they wish to make submissions to it, they should do so in accordance with the following guidelines which are necessary to facilitate the Panel’s work. Submissions from NGOs should:

• not exceed 10 A4 pages. In those submissions, NGOs can refer the Panel to documents already in the public domain;
• be submitted in Ukrainian (or Russian) or in English;
• be limited to matters directly concerning the adequacy of the investigations into the events that took place in Odessa on 2 May 2014;
• be submitted clearly headed “NGO submissions” through the Panel’s e-mail address at iap@coe.int;
• be submitted as soon as possible and, in any event, at the latest by midday 7 May 2015.

Receipt of submissions from NGOs will be acknowledged. The Panel will then decide whether any follow-up with the NGO is required.