Human rights: year-end results and new challenges for Ukraine and the Chernihiv region

On December 10, 2014, a round table was held in Chernihiv on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. They talked about the general situation with human rights in the country and the region, observance of socio-economic rights and the decline in the standard of living of the population, problems of social protection of ATO participants and internally displaced persons, reform of law enforcement agencies.

Alla Lepekha

, regional coordinator for public relations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights in Chernihiv region, noted that, despite the situation in the country and the region, progress in observance of human rights is still observed. This applies to the rights of citizens to peaceful assembly, free expression of will during the elections of the President of Ukraine and people’s deputies, and freedom of speech. As for socio-economic and cultural rights, children’s rights in the east of the country, massive violations of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people in Crimea, there is no need to talk about their observance, let alone development. According to Alla Lepekha, in the near future there will be no changes in ensuring the population’s legal rights.

The expert added that the legal awareness of citizens is currently at a very low level and the task of human rights organizations in Chernihiv region is educational work: to convey information, to teach about human rights and ways to protect them. “If you do nothing, then nothing will work,” – Alla Lepekha summarized.

Viktor Tarasov

, head of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, expressed hope that the state leadership will use the turning point in the country’s life to build a democratic, legal and economically developed state. However, in practice, the dramatic events that we see every day do not inspire optimism. The human rights defender is particularly concerned about the sharply deteriorating standard of living, the catastrophic failure to comply with the socio-economic rights of citizens, the devaluation of the national currency, and the sharp increase in utility tariffs. All these factors drive people into the abyss of poverty and it is very difficult to defend their rights in such a situation, says the head of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights.

First Deputy Chairman of the Public Council under the Chernihiv Regional State Administration

Tamara Petrova

, emphasized that “as a citizen of the country, I do not feel any legal protection.” So what can we say about citizens who are not involved in the legal movement. The official cited the situation with the Yalivshchyna RLP as an example of non-compliance with legal requirements, which was supposedly created, but in fact the situation has not changed and, in order to defend their rights in this or other cases, according to Tamara Petrova, people should contact the corrupt judicial system and the no less corrupt system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Tetyana Kuznetsova-Molodchaya

, director of the city center of social services for families, children and youth, called the protection of human rights the main task of the center. Socially vulnerable segments of the population can receive assistance here anonymously and free of charge. This year, according to the director of the center of social services, special attention was paid to families of displaced persons from the east of the country, ATO participants and their families. Tetyana Kuznetsova-Molodchaya noted that the number of complaints about domestic violence has increased significantly – 209 cases in 2014, in 2013 there were 57 – however, the number of confirmed cases is 10 times less. This trend does not indicate an increase in cases of violence, but an increase in the openness of society in disclosing them.

Vitaliy Barbash

, head of the public relations sector of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Public Administration, drew the attention of those present to the fact that changes in the country’s legislation not only do not improve the social and legal protection of the population, but also raise a lot of problematic issues. The representative of educators cited as an example the law “On Higher Education”, which came into force in September 2014 and has many additions that are necessary for the development of quality education, but with this document orphans lost the right to non-competitive admission to universities. “Legal education must be carried out, but the regulatory and legal acts that are adopted should be aimed at protecting citizens, and not cause additional tension,” Vitaliy Barbash summarized.

Olga Rys

, a representative of the Polissya Foundation for International and Regional Studies, is confident that political will is all that our authorities need in the conditions of decentralization, so that the population, which has certain problems, feels protected.

Serhiy Bryl

, head of the public relations department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Chernihiv region, citing statistics on citizens’ appeals to law enforcement agencies, noted that twenty years of experience show that reforming and reducing the police have not brought anything good. “We will see in the future what this reform will bring,” Serhiy Bryl concluded his speech and thanked all human rights public associations for their cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

According to

Oleksandr Yasenchuk

, representative of the “Self-Defense of Chernihiv Region”, the social rights of servicemen are poorly observed in the region. Compensation is not paid to families and fighters who were in captivity. Also, there are many situations with non-payment of compensation to families of fighters who died in the ATO zone, and their bodies have not yet been found.

Oleksandr Yasenchuk spoke about Yevhen Shurup, a soldier of the first tank brigade, who was captured in the anti-terrorist operation zone at the end of August. The state is currently accusing him of desertion and treason, since there is no official evidence of his captivity.

“Currently, there is a gap in the country regarding the recording of the period of captivity. Therefore, it is impossible to provide benefits and compensation to servicemen and their families in the future,” Viktor Tarasov noted.

According to him, the only way to record the period of captivity of any person is to write a statement to the police and the SBU about the kidnapping of a person. That is, if relatives are notified of their captivity, they must write a statement about the kidnapping in order to initiate criminal proceedings and recognize the captured serviceman as a victim in these proceedings. Thus, later, it will be possible to demand some compensation or benefits. Also, these recorded data will help the serviceman avoid accusations of desertion.

Iryna Solomakha

, assistant to the People’s Deputy of Ukraine, is sure that discussions such as this round table have a special mission, they help the newly elected Verkhovna Rada to draw attention to the imperfections of the existing legislation and correct it. Among the positive aspects, Ms. Iryna included the increase in the population’s awareness as something that can affect the development of their country. However, in Iryna Hryhorovna’s opinion, another rhetorical question arises: “To what extent are we ready to take responsibility for changes in society?”.

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The activity is carried out within the framework of the