Human rights activists release interim report on Ukraine’s implementation of UPR recommendations

A coalition of human rights organizations, including the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, ZMINA, La Strada-Ukraine, the Social Action Centre, the Fight for Right NGO, the Educational Human Rights House Chernihiv and the Center for Civil Liberties prepared an interim alternative report on Ukraine’s implementation of the recommendations made within the framework of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

The document was sent to the UN Human Rights Council and published on the UN website.

The alternative report provides an overview of the human rights situation in Ukraine up to the interim period of the UPR cycle and assesses the implementation of the recommendations accepted by Ukraine.

The document covers the following areas: rule of law, implementation of international humanitarian law, prevention of torture and ill-treatment, freedom of expression and protection of journalists, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, protection of civil society, prevention of domestic violence, combating trafficking in human beings, combating discrimination, protection of the rights of people with disabilities, access to quality education, protection of the rights of internally displaced persons and residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

The interim alternative report of NGOs is available in Ukrainian and English.

As known, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a process within which each of 193 UN member states should report to the United Nations on how it respects human rights and freedoms and receive a critical appraisal of its report. Each country undergoes a Universal Periodic Review once every 4.5 years. During the review, the country submits its report on the human rights situation. Human rights activists, in turn, submit their alternative report. Ukraine undergoes a universal periodic review for the third time. Previously, Ukraine underwent UPR in 2008 and 2012.

On 15 November 2017, the 3rd Ukraine’s national report within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) was examined at the UN Human Rights Council meeting. As a result, 47 member states made to Ukraine 190 recommendations on problematic human rights issues that needed to be solved. Ukraine accepted 163 recommendations and rejected 27 out of total number made.