The history of the formation of the system of public control of security agencies in the Chernihiv region

Chernihiv region is a region with a special history and significant experience in implementing public initiatives in the field of security. But, at the same time, it also has certain specifics, in particular, due to the fact that it is a border region.

Thus, in

2005-2006

the region was one of the first in Ukraine to join the creation of Public Councils under the regional departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and permanent Mobile Groups for monitoring the provision of human and citizen rights and freedoms in the activities of internal affairs bodies. And in 2012 – to the implementation of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), introduced at the office of the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights. Currently, about 10 public monitors of the NPM work systematically in the region and cooperate with the Ombudsman’s office.

Experience

. Chernihiv region has a practice (both positive and negative) of thematic Public Councils (on combating corruption and combating manifestations of xenophobia and discrimination) at the regional department of the SBU (2008-2009), the Advisory Council and the Interdepartmental Working Group on Combating Human Trafficking at the Prosecutor’s Office of Chernihiv region (2014-2018 and 2017-2018, respectively). Among the members of these advisory bodies were representatives of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights (CHPCHR).

Today, at the Chernihiv level

effectively operates

under the executive committee of the Chernihiv City Council to monitor compliance with the rights of convicted persons and in places of deprivation of liberty, which is recognized as one of the best in Ukraine.

The opening in 2008 of the first Chernihiv temporary residence point for foreigners (PTPI) and stateless persons illegally staying in Ukraine, the State Migration Service, was also significant. PTPI is located in the village of Rozsudiv, Ripky district of Chernihiv region. As of 2021, this center is one of three similar institutions in the country, where more than 200 people are held and whose work imposes certain specifics on cooperation with law enforcement agencies, public and international organizations, and relations with the local community, in particular in the context of COVID-19.

2016-2020

years became a period of implementation in the region of a number of innovative initiatives in the field of security, cooperation between the public and law enforcement agencies, such as “Neighborhood Watch”, “School Police Officer” and “School Understanding Services”, “Community Police Officer”, etc. Several public human rights organizations that are involved in the implementation of security initiatives, cooperation with law enforcement agencies and the issue of public control over security agencies have also become powerful.

All the experience, challenges and prospects facing the public sector, local communities and security agencies of Chernihiv region,

need to be analyzed and covered

at the regional and national levels for dissemination and comparison with other regions of Ukraine.

Strengthening public control.

Today, due to the change of government and leadership of law enforcement agencies in the region, the mechanisms for interaction between entities implementing security measures either do not work – as in the case of the Interdepartmental Council under the Prosecutor’s Office of Chernihiv region and the Public Council under the Main Directorate of National Police in the region, or representatives of other law enforcement agencies, legal and human rights communities, or the public sector are not part of such advisory and consultative bodies.

Here, it is important to strengthen the ability of the public to interact with law enforcement agencies and monitor their activities at the local level. This, in turn, will affect the observance by law enforcement agencies of the rights of vulnerable groups and the safety of the entire population of Chernihiv region.

Cooperation.

From the experience of the Ukrainian Human Rights Commission, most local civil society activists and non-governmental organizations interested in the topic of cooperation and supervision of law enforcement agencies, or related areas, and who, in fact, are one of the main target groups of this project, work with “vulnerable” categories from the point of view of the observance of their human rights by law enforcement officers – drug and alcohol addicts, homeless women and former prisoners, representatives of ethnic communities and minorities, refugees, asylum seekers, youth, children, etc. Ukrainian human rights activists, international organizations, representatives of the legal community and the system of the Internal Revenue Service constantly pay attention to the same issues, in particular, during detention and custody.

That is why one of the main components of the activities of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights is to strengthen the role of civil society in Chernihiv region in exercising public control over the activities of law enforcement agencies in general, in various forms and areas of such cooperation. Over the years of its activity, the committee itself has developed stable and productive relations with security agencies.

The publication was prepared by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights within the framework of the implementation of the project “Public Control over Law Enforcement Agencies in Chernihiv Region” with the support of .