Representatives of Ukrainian and Polish human rights organisations appeal to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Vitalii Yarema and his deputy Anatolii Danylenko.
The activists demand that the General Prosecutor’s Office:
- Declare its official opinion concerning the enactment of the law on the public prosecutor’s office, as demanded by the EU;
- Initiate a revision of validity of outstanding extradition queries;
- Investigate and ensure public control over facts of corruption and human rights violation perpetrated by law enforcement agents.
“We are alarmed over yet another instance of the parliament postponing the consideration of the draft bill on the public prosecutor’s office, which Ukraine is obliged to pass with a view to closer cooperation with the European Union. Procrastination over the enactment of this law brings about grave political risks, encompassing potential losses for Ukraine’s economy,” reads the appeal.
The signatories to the appeal go on to say that to date “there has been no revision of extradition requests concerning refugees and political opponents of nondemocratic regimes in the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, and other Central Asian countries.” In their opinion, “authoritarian regimes are abusing international justice mechanisms to pursue their own ends.”
“Facts of corruption in courts, torture as a method of investigation, and inhuman detention conditions must be denounced at the top level and eliminated,” added the human rights activists.
The appeal is signed by: Maksym Butkevych, co-coordinator, No Borders Project (Ukraine); Arkadii Bushchenko, executive director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (Ukraine); Bartosz Kramek, head of the board, Open Dialogue Foundation (Poland); Tanya Mazur, executive manager, Amnesty International Ukraine (Ukraine); Oleksandra Matviichuk, board chair, Centre for Civic Liberties, coordinator, civic initiative EuroMaidan SOS (Ukraine); Tetiana Pechonchyk, head, Human Rights Information Centre (Ukraine).
As a reminder: a revision of the law on the public prosecutor’s office, as well as ensuring an efficient war on corruption, carried out through extensive consultations with the Council of Europe/ the Venice Commission, were among the European Union’s key criteria indispensable for signing the EU – Ukraine Association Agreement.
For more information please contact:
Mr Andriy Shumskiy, press office, Open Dialoge Foundation
380-67-5987755 | [email protected]