36 MONITORING OF CUSTODIAL SETTINGS IN UKRAINE: Parliament Members who had already come to the district police, including A. Shevchenko. On the same day all detainees were released. On November 30, 2013, upon analysis and consolidation of all collected data, the Ombudsman decided to commence proceedings with regard to violations of human rights and freedoms during the night happenings in Kyiv. The purpose of the proceedings was to initiate proper investigation by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine of the lawfulness of the actions of the police, their use of special equipment and of protesters’ apprehension and detention at the police station, to ensure transparency and efficiency of such investigation and to ensure proper information of the public about liability of those who violated the law. Unfortunately, further sad developments followed and the next day, on December 1, 2013, there was another confrontation between protesters and the police in Bankova Street near the Presidential Administration. After several hours of confrontation the police dispersed the protesters, with gross violations of human rights and freedoms on the part of law enforcement units. In particular, the mass media made public some videos that recorded how the officers of “Berkut” riot police unit tortured the people who were already On the ground and offered no resistance or the already cuffed detainees. In order to ensure immediate response to these events on December 2, 2013 the Ombudsman, in the framework of the already commenced proceedings, made​​ a submission to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine with a request to conduct an objective and impartial investigation of illegal and excessive use of physical force and special means by “Berkut” riot police officers during the events of November 30 and December 1,2013 and of the consequent multiple facts of infliction of bodily injuries to the participants of the peaceful assembly and journalists. In response to the submission the Prosecutor General’s Office notified about its initiation of criminal proceedings on the grounds of a criminal offense under part 2 of Art. 365 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. However, it must be noted that this response came as late as December 25, 2013, in violation of the requirements of the law as to the time within which to reply to the Ombudsman. Moreover, the reply letter did not refer to any specific measures taken by the Prosecutor General. On December 3, 2013 in order to check on the respect of the rights of the persons detained on December 1 near the Presidential Administration the Ombudsman personally visited the temporary holding facility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the City of Kyiv and Shevchenkivsky District Court of Kyiv. There she met and spoke with all ten incarcerated detainees who complained about beatings by “Berkut” riot police officers and lengthy failure to provide medical assistance. One of the detainees asked to inform his family about his detention, another asked to contact his wife and to get from her new eyeglasses, as his glasses had been broken during the arrest. The Secretariat staff immediately conveyed such information to the relatives of the detained. At a special session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on human rights and international relations in the context of the events of November 30 - December