Ombudsman Warned of the Risk of Vigilante Justice Against Military Recruitment Center Staff

Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s human-rights commissioner, has warned of a growing risk of vigilante violence against employees of territorial recruitment centers. In his assessment, anger over mobilization has brought Ukrainian society close to a “boiling point.”

The ombudsman made the remarks in response to a recent mass protest against mobilization in Lviv.

“Ukrainian society is now, you might say, turning into a kind of lynch mob. Unfortunately, because people believe they are not seeing a lawful response to the actions of territorial recruitment and social-support centers, Ukrainian citizens are taking responsibility upon themselves and trying to resist what is happening in this way. That, in turn, will lead to even graver consequences and problems in the future. This situation should therefore show all of us that Ukrainian society has, in fact, almost reached the boiling point,” Lubinets said.

He identified recruitment-center employees’ failure to follow established procedures as one of the principal problems. The officers are required to use body cameras, the ombudsman said, but the requirement is effectively ignored.

Lubinets also said people were being detained without formal reports being drawn up and without police involvement. He described such actions as illegal and claimed that violations occurred in the overwhelming majority of cases.

“I see that, in my view, established procedures are currently being followed in roughly 10% of cases. In the remaining 90%, the rights of Ukrainian citizens are being directly violated,” the ombudsman said.

He said detentions were often carried out by people wearing balaclavas and no identifying insignia, making it impossible to establish the perpetrator’s identity afterward.

Lubinets said he had proposed banning the practice to Ukraine’s three most recent defense ministers, but none responded to his initiative.