08 April 2016, 17:35
Today in Kramatorsk, the Donetsk region, the Committee held an extended field meeting dedicated to the monitoring of the protection of human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and citizens of Ukraine living in the zone of the antiterrorist operation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and analysis of the practice of the application of the current legislation on IDPs.
"We decided to come and see with our own eyes the situation with the protection of rights and freedoms of the internally displaced persons. And during these two days we have seen in reality and heard from the people information that enables to realistically assess the scale of problems in the field of human rights connected with the holding of the antiterrorist operation. It is our duty to solve problems of IDPs and protect this category of the population of Ukraine," said the Chairperson of the Committee Hryhorii Nemyria.
In this regard, he emphasized on the inadmissibility of violating by the government of provisions of the law on securing protection of rights and freedoms of IDPs (2166), which was approved by the Parliament in late 2015, and came into force early this year.
Thus, according to these legislative amendments, displaced persons are not obliged any more to renew IDP cards every six months – the cards are not limited in time, the lists of the Security Service are illegal, the government has no right to suspend paying benefits, and regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers must be brought in line with the above law.
The Committee members listened to the information of representatives of the executive power bodies, law enforcement agencies and local authorities concerning ensuring the rights of internally displaced persons and citizens of Ukraine living in the zone of ??the antiterrorist operation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and discussed issues connected with the legislative securing of the assistance to internally displaced persons, including protection of the rights of citizens of Ukraine living in the area of the ??antiterrorist operation, legal status of the delimitation line, securing of the rights of citizens of Ukraine during its crossing, functioning of entry-exit checkpoints and humanitarian logistical centers, etc.
They talked about the inadmissibility of the application of the so-called lists of the Security Service on IDPs and the suspension on their basis of paying pensions and other social benefits to IDPs.
Deputy Chairperson of the Luhansk Regional State Administration Olha Lishyk pointed to the need to bring regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers in line with the law of Ukraine on the protection of rights and freedoms of IDPs and stressed on the inadmissibility of not paying pensions to citizens of Ukraine residing on the temporarily occupied territory of Donbas.
Deputy Minister of Social Policy Vitalii Muschynin said that to receive pensions and social benefits such categories of citizens of Ukraine should obtain IDP certificate and stay in the territory of Ukraine. The vast majority of those present were opposed.
"Retired persons had earned these pensions and the State of Ukraine must pay this money, no matter how hard it can be for the State Budget," said First Deputy Chairperson of the Committee Valerii Patskan.
"Is the occupied part of the territory of Donbas not Ukraine? Why do we abandon our citizens staying there?" Committee member Iryna Suslova said.
In turn, Committee member Refat Chubarov said that not paying pensions to the citizens of Ukraine is a violation of the Constitution.
In this regard, Hryhorii Nemyria suggested with the assistance of international organizations to elaborate mechanisms that would allow paying social benefits to the citizens of Ukraine living on the territories not controlled by the Ukrainian government.
Despite the remarks of people’s deputies and representatives of NGOs, Deputy Chairperson of the Pension Fund of Ukraine Vladyslav Mashkin said that the authorities of Ukraine make all possible to timely pay pensions to all citizens of Ukraine and informed that since 2014 they have spent UAH 37 billion on paying pensions to IDPs.
Chairperson of the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights Bohdan Kryklyvenko said that should be regulated the following issues concerning the protection of rights and freedoms: ensuring the voting rights of IDPs, creating a special government body in charge of the protection of rights and freedoms of IDPs, revising the order of entering-exiting the uncontrolled territory and clarifying the order of transportation of essential belongings, etc.
Representative of the Donbas SOS NGO Oleksandr Korotko urged to remove problem moments in the procedure for crossing the delimitation line, in particular, to simplify the procedure and cancel the demand in transportation of 50 kg of cargo by citizens of Ukraine, to open new entry-exit checkpoints. He said that since the establishment of entry-exit checkpoints about 1.5 million citizens of Ukraine and 300,000 vehicles have crossed the line of delimitation.
Moreover, Hryhorii Nemyria recalled that on February 17 the Committee on Human Rights held parliamentary hearings on the topic "the situation with the protection of rights of internally displaced persons and citizens of Ukraine residing in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and in the temporarily uncontrolled territory in the zone of the ??antiterrorist operation."
On March 31, the Parliament with 229 votes adopted the recommendations of the hearings. According to his words, the corresponding document contains 74 proposals to the President of Ukraine, the Verkhovna Rada and its committees, the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries and government agencies, the National Bank and local authorities on improving both the legislative securing and practical implementation of the provision of assistance to the internally displaced persons. These include, in particular, setting a central executive power body in charge of IDPs, bringing the normative legal acts of the Cabinet of Ministers in line with the Law of December 24, 2015 No.921-VIII "On amendments to certain laws of Ukraine concerning strengthening the guarantees of the protection of rights and freedoms of IDPs,” elaborating the order of restoration of the destroyed and damaged residential buildings, located in the ATO zone in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian government, etc.
During the meeting, the Chairperson of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Donetsk Oktam Gaziev presented the report of the Regional Office of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine on the violation of rights of internally displaced persons and citizens of Ukraine living in the zone of the antiterrorist operation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
According to him, between mid-April 2014 and February 15, 2016 the Mission recorded about 30,000 casualties, including 9,000 killed and 21,000 wounded. In this regard, he called on the parties to the conflict to cease hostilities and violence in the zone of conflict. In addition, he said, restrictions on freedom of movement can only apply in exceptional cases, and the non-transparent decision of the Ukrainian government on suspension of paying pensions and social benefits to IDPs and citizens of Ukraine staying in the uncontrolled territory, concern the UN.
Following the meeting, the Committee members decided to create a monitoring group composed of people's deputies of Ukraine, on the rights of internally displaced persons and citizens of Ukraine living in the zone of the ??antiterrorist operation. The group will engage in addressing the problems, which the MPs heard on April 7-8 during the field meeting of the Committee, monitoring the implementation of the above parliamentary hearings and provisions of the law on the protection of rights and freedoms of IDPs.
In the framework of the field meeting, the Committee members visited several entry-exit checkpoints, namely Maryinka and Novotroitske, humanitarian logistics center Novotroitske, a number of populated settlements along the delimitation line – the town of Maryinka, where they met with locals and the leadership of the Maryinka military civil administration, places of IDPs’ temporary settlement in Sviatohorsk, Coordination Center under the ATO field headquarters in Kramatorsk, and held an extended meeting of the Committee in Kramatorsk.
In addition to the Committee members – Committee Chairperson Hryhorii Nemyria, Deputy Chairperson Valerii Patskan, Committee members Vasyl Brenzovych, Iryna Suslova and Refat Chubarov, the extended meeting was attended by people’s deputies representing other Parliamentary Committees - member of the Committee on Social Policy, Employment and Pension Provision Natalia Veselova and member of the Batkivschyna faction Oleksii Riabchyn, leadership of central executive power bodies of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, representatives of international humanitarian missions and NGOs of internally displaced persons.