Today, the Committee together with the
Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, Kyiv Dialogue and the International
Renaissance Foundation held a round-table on the topic "Human rights in
the armed conflict and in the course of reforms."
"I
am glad that today, on the International Human Rights Day, we have an opportunity
to gather and exchange our views on the recommendations on human rights
protection in the armed conflict and in the course of reforms. If we want to
build a democratic state, then neither the security reasons nor economic
(regarding implementation of reforms) should have influence on the protection
of human rights and freedoms in Ukraine," Chairperson of the Committee on
Human Rights Hryhorii Nemyria said.
During the round-table presented were recommendations concerning the
improvement of the human rights situation in Ukraine. The recommendations were
elaborated by the Kyiv Dialogue and Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
following the 11th annual conference of "Kyiv Dialogue" held in
October and dedicated to the protection of human rights during the armed
conflict, occupation of Crimea and implementation of reforms.
According
to Hryhorii Nemyria, after the conference they started implementing a part of
these recommendations. So, this week in the Parliament they registered the
Draft Law on guarantees to freedom of peaceful assembly No. 3587, co-authored
by the Committee members. On Tuesday, people’s deputies approved a Resolution
on holding in February of a parliamentary hearing on the human rights of
internally displaced persons and citizens of Ukraine residing in the
temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and in the territory not controlled
by the Ukrainian government in the zone of the ??anti-terrorist operation.
In addition, he said that at their meeting on Wednesday members of the
Committee on Human Rights finalized the draft law "On amendments to some
laws of Ukraine concerning strengthening of the guarantees to the protection of
rights and freedoms of internally displaced persons" No.2166, taking into
account the remarks of the President of Ukraine, and recommended that the
Parliament adopt it on Thursday as a whole.
In turn, the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights
Valeria Lutkovska stressed that "at present Ukraine faces the biggest in
its history challenges regarding protection of human rights."
"The situation with human rights has clear political and geopolitical
nature. The situation is also influenced by the armed conflict. We have come
across the new challenges: political kidnapping, torture of prisoners of war
and others," said director of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
Yevhen Zakharov, pointing to the problems arising during the implementation of
the item of the Minsk agreements on exchange of hostages and prisoners of war,
in the format "all for all."
Director of the Center for Civil Liberties Oleksandra Matviichuk drew attention
of the present to the new challenges in the field of human rights protection:
non-compliance of legal standards to the standards of living over the armed
conflict (no amendments have been made to the Criminal Code concerning war
crimes, the procedure of searching for missing persons has not been regulated,
the status of civil hostages has not been defined); focus on the implementation
of the Minsk agreements, which are "not a peace plan, but only aimed at
suspension of the armed conflict;" the situation with the protection of
rights of citizens of Ukraine staying in the annexed Crimea and in the occupied
part of the territory of Donbas; etc.
Denis Matveyev, a representative of the Center of Martti Ahtisaari, which deals
with assistance in resolving conflicts worldwide, offered the round-table
participants to cooperate in exchange of information and experience concerning
human rights protection during armed conflicts.
Following the discussion Hryhorii Nemyria proposed holding committee hearings
on the aspects of human rights protection in the context of the Minsk process.