On 1 April, 2014, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the ‘Kozatskiy’ hotel (1/3 Mikhaylovskaya Street, Kyiv), The Open Dialog Foundation will host an international conference entitled ‘Lustration: solutions for Ukraine’.
The conference will be attended by:
• Yehor Sobolev – Chair of the Lustration Committee of Ukraine;
• Leonid Kozachenko – Chairman of the Council of Entrepreneurs at the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Foreign experts:
• Paweł Osik – Member of the Human Rights Commission of the Supreme Bar Council of Poland;
• Radosław Peterman – Vice President of Lustration Department of the Institute of National Remembrance (Poland);
• Agnieszka Romaszewska – Vice President of the Polish Federation of Journalists, CEO of Belsat TV (Poland);
• Adam Hradilek – the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, Prague (the Czech Republic);
• Petras Ragauskas – Associate Professor at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science of Vilnius University, Member of the Lustration Commission of Lithuania (2005-2010);
• Boštjan Kolarič – legal scholar; Study Centre for National Reconciliation, Slovenia;
• Adelina Ţînţariu – the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and Remembrance of the Romanian Exile (Romania).
The conference will consist of three parts:
1. A discussion about the context and objectives of lustration in Ukraine; presentation of concepts of lustration, proposed by Ukrainian experts and civil society activists.
2. Introduction of the international experience of lustration (on the example of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe) with an emphasis on achievements, national peculiarities, successes and mistakes made.
3. Presentation and discussion about the draft law ‘On Lustration’, developed by a working group at the Lustration Committee (Leonid Antonenko, Yevgeniy Zakharov, Sergey Postivyi, Yevgeniy Shevchenko).
The main demands of the EuroMaidan were: the restoration of the course towards the European integration, the removal of Viktor Yanukovich from the post of President of Ukraine and implementation a process of lustration in government bodies.
Yanukovych’s resignation and the formation of a coalition government have opened up possibilities for fulfilment of the people’s demands to clear out the government at all levels. However, presently, Ukrainian legislation doesn’t contain a single reference to the process of lustration or mechanisms for its implementation.Unfortunately, activities of various civil society initiatives, which are not always correctly labelled ‘lustration’, are typically not systemic.
The lustration process requires development of transparent criteria, a clear definition of the range of objects and subjects, as well as development of clear procedures for implementation. During the international conference ‘Lustration: solutions for Ukraine’, experts from Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Lithuania, Slovenia and Ukraine will present lustration initiatives stemming both from national legislation and civil society.
On the basis of the results of the conference, proposals on the criteria, range of subjects and procedures for lustration in Ukraine will be formed. Ukrainian and foreign experts, legal scholars, civil society activists, as well as representatives of the media, business and government, will take part in the conference.
Media representatives are invited. Registration starts at 9:30 am.
Accreditation is mandatory and can be obtained by calling: +38063-721-22-72 (Kateryna Petrenko) or via email: [email protected]
For inquiries regarding participation please contact Agnieszka Piasecka, International Cooperation Manager at Kyiv Office, + 380 935 157 843, [email protected]
Download Conference Agenda in English
Download Conference Agenda in Ukrainian