Information
Equipo Nizkor
        Bookshop | Donate
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor       

25Jan18

Law on Donbass reintegration infringes on people's rights in conflict zone, ombudsman says

The law on the Donbass reintegration adopted by Verkhovna Rada infringes on the rights of the people living in the military action zone in eastern Ukraine, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada human rights commissioner Valeria Lutkovskaya said.

"The text that was prepared for the second reading does contain several rather strict articles that have been deteriorating the human rights situation in the specific area, let's say, where military action is being conducted," she said in an interview with Channel Five.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces will also be vested with additional powers, Lutkovskaya said.

Head of the UN human rights monitoring mission Fiona Fraser earlier said that the law on reintegration does not fully provide human rights protection.

On January 18, Verkhovna Rada adopted by 280 votes the draft law "On the aspects of the state policy on provision of Ukraine's state sovereignty on the temporarily occupied territories in the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions" at the second reading and in general. The draft law names Russia an "aggressor state" and the areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions not controlled by Kiev "temporarily occupied territories," as well as vests the president with the right to use the armed forces within the country without the parliament's consent, including to liberate the territories in the east of the country. For this purpose, the united operational headquarters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is established in order to control all militants and military-civilian administrations in the conflict zone. In addition, any mentioning of the Minsk accords was removed from the text of the document after the introduction of the amendments.

[Source: Itar Tass, Kiev, 25Jan18]
Bookshop Donate Radio Nizkor

Ukraine Unrest
small logoThis document has been published on 26Jan18 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.