ANALYSIS: European rights commissioner spots areas of concern in Ukraine (12/31/06)

ANALYSIS

European rights commissioner spots areas of concern in Ukraine

RFE/RL Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova Report

Following his trip to Ukraine on December 10-17, Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, gave an interview to RFE/RL Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova Report.

Q: What does the mandate of the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights cover?

A: My office is mandated to monitor the human rights record of the 46 Council of Europe member-states, and identify shortcomings in the law and practice. We also seek to encourage reforms by advocating the adoption and implementation of existing Council of Europe human rights standards.

Q: Do you have the authority to enforce human-rights compliance upon the Council of Europe's members?

A: Neither I nor the rest of the Council of Europe machinery can actually enforce compliance. But the organization's main decision-making body, the Committee of Ministers, oversees the execution of all judgments by the European Court of Human Rights. For example, at their last sitting in early December, they reviewed over 800 cases in which member-state governments had been found guilty of violating the European Convention on Human Rights, and were ordered to pay damages to individuals.

My office focuses on promoting reforms and pointing to structural shortcomings, in order to render it unnecessary for cases to be addressed to the court. Apart from raising the problems with governments, we also work through ombudsmen, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations.

Q: What was the purpose of your recent visit to Ukraine?

A: The main goal of this visit was to make a comprehensive assessment of the human rights situation in Ukraine. While we are in dialogue with the authorities, NGOs and other international organizations during the year, it is important occasionally to dedicate time to be there in person and do a full review. In the course of my eight-day visit to Ukraine (Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa), I met President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, six government ministers, leading parliamentarians, the head of the Supreme Court, as well as religious leaders and representatives of human rights civil-society organizations. I also visited police stations, detention centers, secondary schools, shelters for migrants and psychiatric hospitals.

Q: What are your first impressions after this visit?

A: There is a better climate for freedom of expression than before. This also helps defining the many remaining human-rights problems. Indeed, there are several areas where Ukraine will need to continue with sweeping reforms. Let me mention a few.

First, there is an urgent need to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic which - if not seriously addressed - could lead to a dramatic demographic as well as economic and social crisis.

Secondly, the authorities need to pay close attention to the functioning of the justice system as a whole. We identified deep-rooted problems in relation to the work of the courts and the functioning of law enforcement, including corruption and ill-treatment, even torture, of people arrested. Also, the prosecutor-general still has a broader mandate than such offices in other countries in Europe. The standards in institutions for pretrial detention and in the prisons need to be improved.

Thirdly, xenophobia is a serious problem in Ukraine, as demonstrated by the great number of hate crimes and hate-speech incidents. Minority groups and migrants are particularly vulnerable, and I believe that racial crimes should be seen and treated as serious crimes by the authorities.

Having said all of the above, I believe Ukraine has amazing human resources. I have met a number of dedicated, hard-working and competent individuals, both in the NGO community and in various state institutions, who I believe have the potential to make a real difference.

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