Kiev not protesting people in eastern Ukarain----- UN

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 The Ukrainian government is failing in its legal duty to protect citizens in rebel-held areas from growing economic misery, the United Nations human rights office said Monday, urging Kiev to rethink its policy of stopping public services in the east, reports dpa.
The lives of five million people in the region have been deteriorating because of the embargo as well as ongoing violence, damaged infrastructure, the breakdown of the economy and winter weather, the office said in a report.
"The fate for many in areas under the control of the armed groups may well be life-threatening," the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said, referring to the "severe protection gap" that was created when the Kiev government decided in November to stop all services in rebel-held areas.
Pension payments and other government financial transfers were ended this month for areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which are controlled by pro-Moscow separatists, who have declared them independent republics.
Government institutions including hospitals, schools and prisons are to be moved to other parts of Ukraine.
Such relocations might be in breach of Ukraine's obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN rights office said.
High Commissioner Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein stressed that Kiev remains responsible for protecting the rights of all Ukrainians, also in areas that it does not fully control.
"I urge the government to carefully consider the human rights impact of this decision," he said.
The Donetsk regional administration said late last month that only 18 of its 130 medical facilities have agreed to relocate, putting into question the fate of the majority of these institutions.
About 12,000 public and private facilities have been destroyed, and 11,000 families were without gas supplies in November in Donetsk and Luhansk.
At the same time, the UN rights office stressed that the government has taken most of the required steps under a September ceasefire while the rebels have failed to withdraw arms and mercenaries from Ukrainian territory.          

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