WEEK OF ACTION AGAINST RACISM

As this year’s UNITED message states, in order to overcome racism and injustice at the personal, societal or institutional levels, it is necessary to evaluate, first of all, our own behavior and positions, to remember the prejudices we carry within ourselves, to understand how we came to these prejudices and how to get rid of them.

When we try to understand the problems of poverty, deprivation and lack of social opportunities for certain groups of people, under the influence of the media and politicians, we immediately break into small groups and point fingers at each other, looking for the guilty. This not only contradicts the realities of economic policy and business practices that further entrench inequality in our society, but also creates an atmosphere of distrust, suspicion and hostility. We must unite to question all these racist, populist myths and educate our communities, developing programs, strategies and measures that can fundamentally change existing prejudices.

The Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights (CHCHR), as one of the long-standing members of the UNITED network, also did not stay away from the week of action against racism.

In particular, a series of lectures was held in Chernihiv for employees of the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Chernihiv region on the topic “Prevention of manifestations of racism and xenophobia in the activities of internal affairs bodies”. Director of the Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Center Alla Lepekha and head of programs of the Chernihiv Women’s Human Rights Center Tukhan Ediev told law enforcement officers about the historical origin of the terms “xenophobia” and “racism”, explained the concept of “hate speech”, and provided the latest statistics on hate crimes and racism in Ukraine. The speakers noted that manifestations of intolerance and discrimination are unfortunately widespread in our society, and cases of xenophobic and extremist inscriptions appearing on city buildings are becoming more frequent. But law enforcement agencies do not always adequately respond to these manifestations, and sometimes police officers themselves resort to actions that have signs of xenophobia and racism.

Also, as part of the week of action against racism, joint meetings were held with law enforcement officers and detained migrants at the Rozsudiv Temporary Residence Point for Foreigners in Chernihiv region on issues of respecting the rights of migrants and preventing manifestations of intolerance by the Point’s staff.

The project is implemented with the support of the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA/ROLI – Ukraine) ().