According to the Presidential Decree on the National Human Rights Strategy, the Ministry of Justice was instructed to develop a draft of the document by 1 January 2015. However, its due date has been changed to 31 March 2015 to have a room for wide-scale public discussions, attracting representatives of human rights and civil society institutions to contribute to the development of the Strategy.

 

"We invite all human rights defenders and civil society activists, who wish to participate in the development of this document, to join our working group. The main principle of our work will be 'citizens of Ukraine for citizens of Ukraine.' We will coordinate this process and will provide all possible assistance to promptly prepare a document of the highest quality," said Natalia Sevostyanova, the Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights.

 

It is expected that human rights organizations and civil society, having first-hand knowledge of the problems in the area of human rights, will take a lead in shaping the National Human Rights Strategy. Furthermore, partners from the Council of Europe and United Nations will provide their assistance in the development of the document, preparing expert opinions and suggestions on the content of the Strategy.

 

The need to prepare the Strategy was caused by systemic problems in the provision and implementation of human rights and fundamental freedoms, the absence or ineffectiveness of mechanisms of their protection, as stated in the annual reports of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner on Human Rights, Ukrainian human rights organizations, UN recommendations and mechanisms for human rights, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other international organizations, the European Court of Human Rights, and in the context of the implementation of the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement.

 

The National Human Rights Strategy is aimed at implementing strategic objectives to eliminate the grounds for violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms and ensure their protection mechanisms in 2015-2020. The developed Strategy will cover civil, political, social, and economic rights. The document is envisaged to become the foundation for further reforms in all spheres of public life.

 

The document will be based around such core themes: ensuring the right to life; struggling against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; ensuring the right to liberty and security of person; ensuring the right to a fair trial and judicial system reform; reforming the police; ensuring the right to freedom of expression and access to information; ensuring the rights of members of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO); protecting the rights of internally displaced persons; taking all necessary measures to protect the rights of people living in the temporarily occupied territory; ensuring the rights of persons living in the territories temporarily uncontrolled by Ukraine and territories bordering with them; releasing hostages and restoring their rights; raising awareness of human rights; supporting children's rights; ensuring the right to privacy, etc.

 

The draft of the National Human Rights Strategy is housed on the Ministry of Justice official website and could be accessed here: http://hrstrategy.com.ua/documents/versions/2