Human rights organizations express concern over sanctions against Ukrainian politicians, businessmen – statement
The application of sanctions against opposition politicians and business figures constitutes an extrajudicial political reprisal, undermines fundamental legal principles, grossly violates the Constitution and international agreements ratified by Ukraine, poses serious threats to human rights and fundamental freedoms, and represents a usurpation of power within the state, according to a joint statement by several Ukrainian human rights organizations. The statement was published on the website of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group on Friday.
"Sanctions cannot serve as a tool for holding individuals legally accountable for criminal offenses, even when an investigation against them is ongoing. Sanctions must not substitute criminal liability, as the principles of justice are eroded by the political motivations guiding the authors of these sanctions. Using sanctions as a replacement for investigations and fair trials equates to the destruction of democracy in Ukraine," the statement reads.
Human rights advocates made these comments in response to sanctions imposed on Petro Poroshenko, Kostiantyn Zhevaho, Ihor Kolomoisky, and Hennadiy Boholiubov.
"Ukrainian citizens or foreign nationals under Ukraine's jurisdiction or that of friendly states with existing international legal agreements on the extradition of offenders cannot be subjected to sanctions. Sanctions are an international legal mechanism of a political nature, applied by one state against another state, its individuals, and legal entities when no other means exist to counteract their hostile influence. Sanctions against a state's own citizens are only justified if those individuals are hiding in hostile foreign jurisdictions or in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, and the state has no legal means to prosecute them," the statement continues.
The human rights organizations emphasized that such actions by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amount to a usurpation of power and a substitution of the judicial system with direct executive control. "President Zelenskyy's actions are not sanctions in their international legal sense but rather an extrajudicial crackdown on political opponents. These actions by the Ukrainian president are illegal and arbitrary. They replace the law enforcement and judicial systems with direct executive rule," the document asserts.
According to the statement, the sanctions represent a serious violation of the Constitution and international agreements ratified by Ukraine, amounting to extrajudicial political repression that undermines the foundations of Ukraine's legal system. "Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 on the Decision of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) dated February 12, 2025, regarding the application of personal special economic and other restrictive measures (sanctions), based on the NSDC decision of February 12, 2025, constitutes political persecution of the opposition and usurpation of power, as the president, in violation of Ukraine's Constitution, has assumed the powers of the judicial branch," the statement declares.
Twelve human rights groups have joined the statement: the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, the Center for Civil Liberties, the NGO Centre of Law Enforcement Activities Research (CLEAR), the Human and Law Charitable Foundation, the NGO Sich Human Rights Group, the Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin, the Ukrainian Institute for Human Rights, the Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation, the NGO Bluebird, the International Society for Human Rights – Ukrainian Section, and the Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv.
"We invite human rights organizations to join our open appeal," the statement concludes.