How to protect Ukrainians affected by war: human rights defenders name draft laws parliament should pay attention to

During a press conference in Kyiv on September 5, human rights defenders presented a road map of draft laws in the field of protection of the rights of war victims which must be adopted, rejected or finalized by the parliament. In particular, it is already necessary to support initiatives that will promote the reintegration of people living under the occupation. 

Head of the Board of the Crimean Human Rights Group Olha Skrypnyk notes that on the first day of the session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the Coalition of human rights organizations wanted to draw the attention of MPs to important legislative decisions that are necessary for the protection of victims of armed aggression. According to her, such draft laws should be worked on now, not after the de-occupation of all territories. 

Alena Lunova, advocacy director at Human Rights Center ZMINA, presented the “green” part of the road map – draft laws supported by the Coalition organizations: 

“We believe that draft laws on the reintegration of residents of the de-occupied territories should be adopted now. One of them defines an administrative out-of-court procedure for the recognition of facts that took place under the occupation – birth, death, marriage, and divorce. The other will allow children and young people, who were forced to live under the occupation and get education there, to confirm their knowledge in accordance with Ukrainian legislation. This draft law has already been approved by the parliament at the first reading, and it is very important that it preserves the key approaches laid down by the authors and supported by MPs at the second reading.” 

Lunyova emphasizes: both draft laws do not provide for the recognition of documents issued under the occupation. Instead, they contain mechanisms thanks to which hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, who for various reasons received documents under the occupation, will have a future in the Ukrainian state. 

Alena Lunova

As human rights defenders point out, the parliament also considers draft laws which are important for the protection of war victims but should be finalized. 

Among such draft laws, Yulia Matviychuk, advocacy coordinator at Charity Foundation “East SOS”, mentioned a draft law that will help distinguish between the offense provided for in Art. 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and other related offenses. 

“However, we recommend revising the proposed provision on the exemption from criminal liability of those who were forcibly mobilized into the Russian army in the temporarily occupied territories in accordance with the investigative and judicial practice that developed after the registration of the draft law,” Matviychuk comments. 

It is also necessary to finalize the draft law on the protection of the rights of deported and forcibly transferred children. Matviychuk notes that the terms “deported child” and “forcibly transferred child” in this draft law do not correspond to the norms of international law. 

In addition, there are “red” draft laws in the road map of human rights defenders which should be rejected due to serious threat posed by them. One of these draft laws concerns the introduction of free travel for internally displaced persons during the period of martial law. 

Anna Rassamakhina, the advocacy manager at NGO “Crimea SOS”, notes that the adoption of the draft law will lead to an unreasonable burden on the country’s budget, as well as to conflicts in communities. 

“The draft law does not contain a balance between public and private interests, there are no detailed financial calculations. The initiative has an exclusively political character and is populist,” Rassamakhina says. 

Moreover, the “red zone” of the road map of human rights defenders includes the draft law on compensation for victims of Russia’s war against Ukraine. This draft law considers every citizen of Ukraine a victim of aggression. The exception is those who are suspected of a crime against Ukraine’s national security. 

Human rights defenders say that despite the unconditional importance of the law, which will be able to protect the rights of Ukrainians affected by the war, this document does not contain an effective protection mechanism and defines the victims in a broad sense. 

Head of the Crimean Human Rights Group Olha Skrypnyk separately notes that the state should budget the payments for civilian hostages, captured military personnel and their families for the next year, because the number of these people has increased significantly and there is not enough funding. 

Yulia Matviychuk, Alena Lunova, Anna Rassamakhina, and Olha Skrypnyk (from left to right)

The human rights activist also called on MPs to make the work of the parliament more transparent and open to society, to make the agenda of the parliament’s sittings public, to allow civil society representatives to participate in meetings of the committees online in order to protect the rights of affected Ukrainians more effectively. 

The Coalition of human rights organizations will send the road map to all MPs of Ukraine, as well as separately communicate draft laws related to reintegration processes with international partners. 

The full text of the road map for the parliament is available here. Video from the press conference is available at the link. 

Background. The Coalition of organizations for the protection of the rights of victims of armed aggression against Ukraine includes Human Rights Center ZMINA, NGO “Donbas SOS”, NGO “Crimea SOS”, Charity Foundation “Right to Defense”, Charity Foundation “East SOS”, NGO “Civil holding “GROUP OF INFLUENCE”, Charity Foundation “Stabilization Support Services”, Crimean Human Rights Group.