"The Government should immediately resolve on payments to persons released from captivity," -- Iryna Herashchenko, the Vice Speaker
On April 17, 2018, the First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Herashchenko met with the relatives of hostages kept in the SRDLO (Separate Regions of the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts), the relatives of political prisoners of the Kremlin and the family members of missing persons.
The meeting was also attended by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova, the head of the SBU’s Joint Hostage Release Centre Yurii Kochanov, representatives of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, who are in charge of searching for missing persons throughout the Donbas, representatives of other ministries of Ukraine and reps of human rights organizations.
Iryna Herashchenko informed those present about the current state of play in releasing the hostages, the efforts of the President of Ukraine and representatives of the SBU aimed at liberation of the hostages held in the SRDLO. The politician expressed her hope that the other side would support the Ukraine’s initiative to swap 23 Russian criminals perpetrated crimes Donbas-wide in favour of Ukrainian citizens held in the Russian Federation.
She also noted that given the numerous cases of torturing Ukrainian hostages in the SRDLO, the admission of the International Committee of the Red Cross to the local prisons remains extremely relevant for the Ukrainian side.
During the meeting, an acute need in immediate resolving the issue of payments to persons released from captivity was also much talked of. Iryna Herashchenko notified that in order to accelerate the legal settlement of this issue, an appropriate parliamentary request to the Prime Minister of Ukraine V.Hroisman was announced on March 2 at the session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. However, the issue still remains on ice for the time being. The Vice Speaker urged the government to settle the problem as quickly as possible.
During the meeting, the search for missing persons was also considered. Iryna Heraschenko informed that she had triggered in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross a draft law on the legal status of missing persons (Reg. No. 5435, dated November 22, 2016). The bill was taken on January 18 on the first reading.
“The missing persons bill No.5435 ought to be adopted by the end of the current plenary session,” underlined I.Herashchenko.