Ukrainian leaders should respect the independence of the judiciary.

Prison officials in Vinnitsia, Ukraine, should immediately withdraw a lawsuit against a prominent Ukrainian human rights organization, Human Rights Watch said today.

European Union efforts to shift responsibility for migration to countries beyond EU borders threaten the human rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. On Friday, European leaders are expected to discuss migration at an EU informal summit in Lahti, Finland.

The Ukrainian government’s considerable efforts to combat Europe’s worst HIV/AIDS epidemic are being undermined by its failure to end persistent violence and discrimination against people at highest risk of infection, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

Ukraine has deported 10 asylum seekers to Uzbekistan, where they face torture and abuse, Human Rights Watch said today. These deportations violate international law.

Ukraine regularly subjects migrants and asylum seekers to abuse, including extended detention in appalling conditions, violence, extortion, robbery and forced returns to face torture or persecution, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today on the eve of the EU-Ukraine summit.

Human Rights Watch urges the Governing Council to take a much more active and critical role in evaluating IOM activities in countries where the asylum system and/or immigration policy and practice routinely deny the right to seek asylum and violate refugees’ and migrants’ rights. IOM cannot be guided disproportionately by the dictates of individual Member States that are willing to fund projects that promote their particular state interests, but which do not necessarily take fully into account the rights of migrant and refugee populations.

This Sunday’s inauguration of Viktor Yushchenko as president marks an important opportunity to break with past shortcomings in respect for human rights in Ukraine, Human Rights Watch said today in an open letter to the president-elect.