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International Activity of the Commissioner for Human Rights |
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From the reports of the Commissioner’s Press Service Ambassadors of OSCE member-countries On September 29, 1998 the Polish Embassy was the venue of a meeting between the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and the ambassadors of the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands and other OSCE countries, as well as representatives of a number of offices of international organizations in Ukraine, such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the EC and the UN Office. In his opening address, the OSCE Ambassador Charles Maggie, who initiated this meeting, stressed that providing assistance and support to the evolvement of a new democratic institution in Ukraine, the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, is among the top priority areas of his organization’s work. The ambassadors of the USA, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands offered their definite assistance to the Ukrainian Commissioner. Mrs. Karpachova thanked for the diplomatic corps’ support and readiness for cooperation and stressed that human rights have no boundaries. Consistently asserting the rights of Ukrainian citizens, she addressed the ambassadors of the USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom to facilitate the release of four Ukrainian seamen who are held hostage in Nigeria. In response to the request of the Commissioner, who recently visited the Kyiv Center of Burns Treatment and looked into the problems it was experiencing, the French ambassador promised to provide the center with special medial equipment. September 30, 1998 Meeting focuses on citizens’ rights in Ukraine and Russia Within the framework of the Commissioner’s official visit to the Russian Federation, Mrs. Karpachova met with Ivan Sergeyev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia. A broad range of issues dealing with protection of human rights and freedoms was raised during the meeting. Both sides stressed the historical importance of Ukraine and Russia’s ratification of the full-scale Agreement on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Russia and Ukraine, in which one-third of its articles contain provisions of direct effect concerning the protection and human rights and freedoms. As the Ukrainian Commissioner pointed out, the signing of the Agreement on Cooperation between the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioners for Human Rights and the Commissioners for Human Rights in the Russian Federation by the two countries was a definite step in the implementation of the large Agreement. The parties agreed to combine efforts to protect the rights of their citizens abroad and jointly deal with the problems of illegal migration Also discussed was the need to sign a bilateral agreement on regulating the status of Ukrainian citizens in Russia and Russian citizens in Ukraine. Responding to the request of the Ukrainian Commissioner, Ivan Sergeev confirmed the readiness of Russian diplomacy to assist in releasing four Ukrainian seamen held hostage in Nigeria. March 24, 1999 The Commissioner urges to use the force of argument Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Nina Karpachova, had a meeting with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to Ukraine, Goiko Dapcevic. During the meeting the Ambassador informed the Commissioner about the situation in Yugoslavia after the massive air raids of NATO throughout one month into the war. According to the Ambassador, this is a humanitarian catastrophe, since NATO airstrikes are targeted not only on military and industrial facilities, but on kindergartens, maternity wards, schools, hospitals and orthodox churches. Especially alarming are the NATO air attacks on chemical plants and oil refineries, which might cause a real ecological catastrophe that has already inflicted damage to all the countries of Europe, Ukraine included. Mrs.Karpachova reiterated her official position on the NATO campaign in Yugslavia, reminding that on the very first day of war she made a statement stressing that the actions of NATO in Yugoslavia violate not only the UN Charter and the universally recognized principles of international law, but are also grossly violate the fundament human right to life. In voicing the official position of Yugoslavia’s leadership, Ambassador Goiko Dapcevic confirmed its readiness to grant under the European standards the broadest autonomy to all the 26 nationalities in Kosovo. “We are prepared for negotiations, but the aggression must be stopped,” he pointed out. Mrs.Karpachova informed the Ambassador that her Office intends to initiate a number of actions at different levels of state authority in order to provide definite assistance to the children that suffered from the ongoing war in Yugoslavia. April 23, 1999 “The activity of the Ukrainian Ombudsman evokes respect to your state,” said Marten Oosting, President of the International Ombudsman Institute, The First Forum of European Ombudsmen was held in Kyiv. It was organized on the initiative of Nina Karpachova, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioners for Human Rights, with the assistance of the Council of Europe. The establishment of the Commissioner’s Office in Ukraine as well as the constructive reports of Mrs. Karpachova at international conferences on gender equality, trafficking in people and protection of the rights of the child have attracted attention to Ukraine by the Department of Human Rights Protection of the Council of Europe and the world public. This is exactly why the most experienced European Ombudsmen – Marten Oosting, National Ombudsman of the Netherlands and President of the International Ombudsman Institute; Anton Canellas, Ombudsman of Catalonia Province (Spain); and Jane Dinsdale, Deputy Director of the Department of Human Rights of the Council of Europe – were delegated to attend the forum in Ukraine. The ombudsmen held talks, exchanged opinions and experience, and discussed the most burning issues on protecting human rights and freedoms in Europe. Within the framework of the forum, the ombudsmen met with Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoitenko, the First Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament Adam Martynenko, the Head of Presidential Administration Mykola Biloblotsky, the judges of the Constitutional Court, and the chairmen of the Ukrainian Parliament’s committees and factions. During these meetings, they discussed problems in such areas as application of European standards in human rights, implementation of legal reform, restoration of the rights of deported peoples, and the abolishment of capital punishment in Ukraine. Special attention was focused on the participation of European ombudsmen in the search of political means to deal with human rights violations in Kosovo and end the war in Yugoslavia. The round table discussion, “On the Application of European Human Rights Standards in the Activity of the Ombudsmen of Ukraine, the Netherlands, Hungary and Spain,” was held with the participation of Ukrainian and European ombudsmen, members of the Ukrainian Parliament, representatives of the diplomatic corps and international organizations in Ukraine, as well as leading Ukrainian experts and human rights activists from different regions of the country. The participants in the discussion thoroughly analyzed the practice and prospects of applying European standards to Ukrainian legislation and charted paths for continued cooperation. Answering the journalists’ questions at the wrap-up press conference, Marten Oosting said: “By ratifying the European Convention on Human Rights and setting up the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, Ukraine made a bold step on the way toward the democratization and humanization of society and the support of generally recognized international moral values. This evokes particular respect to your state, because the country is in a deep economic crisis that inevitably leads to certain limitations of human rights and freedoms. We are also aware about the great contribution of Mrs. Karpachova to this cause both as a Member of Parliament and Commissioner for Human Rights.” “While establishing the Commissioner’s Office,” the Ombudsman of Catalonia Anton Canellas stressed, “you managed to do in one year what we did in ten. Today, with the efforts of 30 employees you perform twice as much work as our 100 employees. This evokes admiration. However, inadequate logistics for the Commissioner’s activities and lack of premises evokes great concern and wonder about the position of government officials. Instead of securing the success and supporting the Commissioner’s office at the initial stage, we see how the Commissioner’s activities are being thwarted.” The participants in the forum expressed their support to the Ukrainian Commissioner and offered to facilitate the election of the Office of the Ukrainian Commissioner to the membership of the International Ombudsman Institute. May 25, 1999 Coincidence of views on human rights protection Exchange of opinions between Tang Jiaxuan, As part of the official visit of Mrs.Karpachova to the People’s Republic of China, she met with Tang Jiaxuan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of China. During the talks, they ascertained a coincidence of views on human rights protection in both countries. It was also stressed that the issues of human rights in the modern world should be considered with allowance for the specific features of each country as well as its national, historical and cultural traditions. Mrs.Karpachova noted that during her visit to Tibet and the provinces of Szechuan and Yunnan, where a multitude of ethnic minorities reside, she had the opportunity to see for herself how the government of China was consistently pursuing its policy of the all-round development of the 50 odds nationalities living in the country. The Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs highly praised Mrs. Karpachova’s personal efforts in the development of bilateral relations between our countries and especially in the area of human rights protection. He invited her to visit China once again in order to see with her own eyes the results of implementing the policy of reforms and openness and to make her own objective conclusions. In course of the official visit she met with vice-governors of Szechuan and Yunnan provinces (Li Tsing and Shao Tsivey respectively); Ba San, deputy chairman of the parliament of the Tibet Autonomous Region; Van Guang Ya, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Fang Fanpin, Deputy Minister of Justice; and Chjao Sidi, director of the Department of Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ukrainian Commissioner visited a hospital of Tibet medicine, a prison in the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Dutsian irrigation system, the World Fair of Landscape Architecture, interceded on behalf of the Ukrainian citizen O. Tuzhanski who is imprisoned in Beijing, and studied the possibility of continued cooperation in protection of human rights and freedoms and developing cultural ties between the two countries. August 17, 1999 Denmark and Ukraine become closer Mrs. Karpachova, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, visited the Kingdom of Denmark on an official visit at the invitation of the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of Denmark. As she was acquainting herself with the activity of institutions that play a leading role in the development of civil society in Denmark, she visited a human rights center, a center of equal opportunities of men and women, an international center for the recovery of torture victims, and took an active part in an international conference on trafficking in people. Her report about Ukraine’s legislative experience in this area was highly praised by the conference participants. During her meeting with the Danish Ombudsman Hans Gammeltoft-Hansen she and her host noted that there was a lot in common in the activity of the institutions they represented. The Office of the Danish Ombudsman was used as a model by many countries worldwide, Ukraine included. During the meeting it was stressed by both sides that their institutions were independent and outside the jurisdiction of bodies of state authority and were granted a high status under the constitution and the law on the ombudsman. It is precisely this status that makes it possible for the ombudsman to discharge his functions and powers in full measure. However, as both sides noted, financial independence is among the most important preconditions of the political independence in the activity of this institution. That is why the budget of the ombudsman in Denmark is approved directly by the Parliament. In 46 years of its existence, the ombudsman’s office proved to be an efficient institution in protecting human right and freedoms and in democratizing all the areas of public life in Denmark. Each of the four Danish ombudsmen have been elected to their high office for three to four terms, which is just another proof of their high reputation and competence, because the personality of the ombudsman is decisive in asserting the role of this institution in society, especially at the initial stage of the institution’s existence, Hans Gammeltoft-Hansen stressed. Mrs.Karpachova was pleasantly surprised that the Dutch ombudsman was well informed about her activity, especially in protecting the rights of children, prisoners, Ukrainian citizens abroad, as well as about her initiatives in combating transnational slave trade. Both sides agreed on the specific forms of their further cooperation, exchange of experience and mutual support. O. Slipchenko, Ukrainian Ambassador to Scandinavian countries, took part in the meetings with the Danish ombudsman. There was also an informative meeting at an international anti-torture center based in Copenhagen. The center’s management shared with Ms. Karpachova their 25-years experience in establishing over 200 anti-torture centres throughout the world, including Ukraine. The Danish hosts were also interested to hear about the Ukrainian activities in preventing tortures and expressed their readiness to share expertise, methodologies and unique information. Mrs.Karpachova also met with the managers of the Department of the Central and Eastern European countries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Both sides exchanged their views on Ukrainian-Dutch relations and defined specific areas of cooperation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark expressed its readiness to support Ukrainian initiatives in launching bilateral projects of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and Danish human rights institutions. At he end of her visit, Mrs.Karpachova laid flowers on the grave of Hans Christian Andersen, the fairytale writer of genius loved by children worldwide, who was a great humanist and advocate of the ideas of goodness. December 8, 1999 Future Ukrainian laws students are initiated into the activity of ombudsmen The establishment of the Commissioner’s Office in Ukraine has been attracting an ever growing attention of the international community, especially of human rights organizations. In early May, Ukraine was visited by Adam Zielinski, Spokesmen for Civic Rights of the Republic of Poland, and Frank Orton, current ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina and former ombudsman of Sweden. On May 5, Mrs.Karpachova and Mr.Zielinski signed an agreement on cooperation between their respective institutions. Within the framework of his expertise visit, Mr.Orton studied the work of the Ukrainian Commissioner’s Secretariat and shared his experience with its specialists. On May 12, Mr.Orton and Mrs.Karpachova met with the students and faculty of the Law Department of the Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv. This was the first meeting of commissioners for human rights institutions with Ukrainian students. In her address Mrs.Karpachova noted that the meeting was symbolic, for Mr.Orton, an experienced lawyer, was for a long time the ombudsman of Sweden, the first country that introduced this office in order to control the state’s compliance with human rights. Today such institutions exist in more than one hundred countries worldwide. In his address, Mr. Frank Orton spoke in great detail about the emergence of the ombudsman’s office in Sweden. It appeared as a results of events that are common to Ukrainian and Swedish history. Right after his defeat in the Battle of Poltava, King Charles XII of Sweden, deprived of the opportunity to control the situation within the country, introduced this office. But in was only in 1809 that the Swedish Parliament vested the ombudsman with functions that are being discharged to this day. Sweden has now not one but several ombudsmen, each of them dealing with a certain aspect of public relations between the citizens and the state. But, as Mr.Orton pointed out, the Ukrainian model seemed to him more attractive and influential. The questions of the university students projected their far-flung interest in the specifics of human rights compliance under the current political circumstances. Since their guest was recently appointed ombudsman of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they asked a lot of questions related to ethnic relations and peaceful settlement of international conflicts. Special interest was aroused by questions revolving around human rights compliance under the current sociopolitical situation in the Balkans and Russia. Mr.Orton stressed that an ombudsman’s office is too personified and for this reason requires that he be extremely clear-sighted and offer a systemic approach to the solution of problems. Mrs.Karpachova stressed that it was important not only to draft and adopt civilized legislation, but also to design effective mechanisms of its implementation. “As a protector of human rights, the ombudsman should take an unflinching stand when it comes to definite facts of human rights violations,” she said. “As soon as I and the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation learned about the events in Yugoslavia, we spoke out against such methods of human rights protection. We stated that human rights can not be protected by Tomahawks.” Then followed an interesting dialogue on topical issues of human rights protection in the modern world. In memory of his visit to the Kyiv University, the students of the law department presented Mr. Orton the book Comments to the Constitution of Ukraine. May 16, 2000 Cooperation between the Ukrainian and Polish Ombudsmen intensifies On May 5, 2000 an agreement on cooperation in human rights protection was signed in Kyiv between the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and the Spokesmen for Civic Rights of the Republic of Poland. Following from the Ukrainian-Polish agreement on human rights protection, the Commissioner for Civic Rights of the Republic of Poland Mr. Adam Zielinski forwarded a letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Sate Administration of the Republic of Poland, in which he proposed that Minister Mark Bernadski take urgent measures to deal with cases of the Polish border guards’ contemptuous treatment of Ukrainian citizens traveling to Poland. This problem was raised at the joint press conference held on the occasion of signing the agreement. For example, Mrs.Marta Kuzma, staff correspondent of Polish Radio in Ukraine, said that she was impolitely treated by border guards, her fellow countrymen, when she was returning to Poland in a car bearing Ukrainian car plates. Mr. Zielinski made a public statement voicing his concern over the impolite behavior of Polish border guards. In the first place, a border guard is a state official whose behavior shapes the primary impression of the legal and cultural level of his nation. Since the agreement was signed between the two countries, this has been the second case which the Polish ombudsman undertook to inquire into and resolve. June 16, 2000 The outspoken position of the Ukrainian Commissioner for Human Rights Mrs.Karpachova started her official visit to the Council of Europe. On June 20, she addressed the meeting of the Steering Committee on Human Rights and shared her views on the current issues of human rights protection in Europe in general and in Ukraine in particular. She made a special emphasis on the issue of early prevention of human rights violations that have gained a global nature to date. Mrs.Karpachova stressed that the Council of Europe has enough potential for creating such a new mechanism for this purpose, and also drew the attention of the European experts to the need to implement in reality the principles of equality and non-discrimination. In informing about the decision of Ukrainian government to abolish the death penalty, she stressed the special role the President, Parliament and the Constitutional Court played in this process. Incidentally, there are now only two countries in Europe where the death penalty still exists – Turkey and Russia. At the same time she also stressed that public opinion in Ukraine on this issue remains very negative because of the economic crisis and high crime rate. Relying on first-hand knowledge gained from regular visits to detention wards and penitentiary institutions, she has become convinced in the need to raise the conditions of imprisonment to international standards. The report of the Ukrainian Commissioner was positively received by the Council of Europe and will help to improve the image of Ukraine. The lively discussion that followed proved that European experts show great interest in the situation of human rights in Ukraine. The other speakers at the meeting were Deputy General Secretary of the Council of Europe, Hans Christian Krueger, and Council of Europe on Human Rights Commissioner, Alvaro Gil Robles. June 20, 2000 To Nina Karpachova, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dear Mrs.Karpachova, First of all, let me inform you that due to my appointment to a new office and the expiration of my diplomatic mission in Kyiv, I will soon leave for my homeland. Frankly speaking, I really regret leaving such a wonderful country, such benevolent people and such sincere friends. During the last two years, thanks to the joint efforts of both sides on the basis of mutual respect and trust, equality and mutual benefit, there has been a dynamic development of all-round relations and friendship and cooperation between China and Ukraine, in particular between our Embassy and the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. Once again I would like to thank you cordially for what you have personally done to the development of mutual understanding and cooperation between us and for our friendly human relations, and wish you new creative achievements in your responsible work. Looking forward to our continued cooperation, I remain Respectfully yours, Zhou Xiaopei, |
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