CAT/C/UKR/CO/6 Maidan protests, including alleged beatings of medical staff seeking to attend the wounded. Events in Odessa (2 May 2014) and Mariupol (9 May 2014) have also evoked concern over the loss of life and allegations of excessive use of force. While investigations have been opened by a number of governmental and other bodies into those events, the Committee is concerned that the investigations have been slow, remain incomplete and have not resulted in accountability. According to reports by the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, there is “a lack of significant progress” in the Maidan investigations. Further, the Committee notes that the State party did not respond to requests for information on the likely conclusion of investigations regarding the fire in Odessa and the events in Mariupol (art. 2). The State party should: (a) Carry out and complete prompt, impartial, thorough and effective investigations into all allegations of the use of violence, including torture and illtreatment, by law enforcement officials, and prosecute and punish those responsible, including for the incidents on the Maidan and in Odessa and Mariupol and thereby combat impunity; (b) Establish an independent monitoring and oversight mechanism to ensure such criminal investigations are prompt, effective and impartial; (c) Amend the Code of Criminal Procedure to provide for mandatory video recording of interrogations and strengthen efforts to equip all places of deprivation of liberty with video recording devices; (d) Establish a genuinely independent complaints mechanism to deal with cases of alleged torture and ill-treatment, and ensure that persons who have complained about allegations of torture and ill-treatment are protected from reprisal; (e) Provide the Committee with information as to how many cases of violence by law enforcement officials have been investigated and the perpetrators prosecuted for acts of torture and ill-treatment, and the penalties applied for those found guilty. Use of excessive force and grave violations of the Convention in the context of recent events in the east 11. The Committee is gravely concerned at reports concerning the use on the territory of the State party of torture, ill-treatment, enforced disappearance, deprivation of life and other serious violations of the Convention perpetrated in the context of the events that have taken place since November 2013. Many of those reports concern areas where the Government of Ukraine does not exercise effective control. The Committee is deeply concerned that the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has stated that the rule of law has been replaced by the rule of violence in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, notably in places under the control of armed groups, often including the presence of foreign fighters, where a dramatic increase in casualties and the use of heavy weaponry and indiscriminate shelling were documented, along with a need for accountability for the crimes committed. The Committee is particularly alarmed by the finding in the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that “armed groups continue to carry out abductions, physical and psychological torture, ill-treatment and other serious human rights violations,” resulting in “a reign of fear and intimidation by the armed groups” (see A/HRC/27/75) (arts. 2, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16). The Committee recalls the absolute prohibition of torture contained in article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention, stating that “no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or 4