On behalf of Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union – non-governmental association of 30 human rights organization, I would like to inform you about recent deplorable development in legal profession of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union is outraged by another episode of suppression of freedom of expression in the Advocacy of Ukraine. UHHRU expressed its concern with attempts of the management of the National Association of Advocates of Ukraine to bring the Director of the Coordinating Centre for Legal Aid Providing, Andrii Vyshnevskyi, to disciplinary responsibility for his expressing thoughts and judgements with regards to the situation in the Advocacy.

I got an invitation from the National Association of Advocates of Ukraine to participate in its forum “Protection of Human Rights in a Criminal Procedure: Proof and Evidences”. The forum is held by the NAAU with support of the project of the Council of Europe “Support to Criminal Justice System Reform in Ukraine” (launched under the financial support of the Government of Denmark) and a shared project of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Consolidation of Justice Sector Policy Development in Ukraine”. [1]

The Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, The International Renaissance Foundation (IRF), The Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, on the eve of the 20th anniversary of Ukraine’s accession to the Council of Europe are pleased to announce the international event "Day of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea", that will be held on Sept. 30, 2015 within the premises of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Over 70 citizens of the Region of Chernihiv, who were disabled due to the disaster at the ChNPS, have been unlawfully deprived the status of Chornobyl participants by the local government. Most of them suffer from thyroid cancer.

Banks ignore the court’s ruling according to which the Crimeans are considered residents again. This is reported by representatives of human rights institutions which have already received dozens of appeals from indignant displaced persons. Financial institutions keep discriminating the Crimeans by imposing demands which “normal” Ukrainians do not face. Human rights defenders are confident that the NBU could give an order to continue discrimination of the Crimeans, justifying this by their intention to appeal the stated ruling.

Human right defenders helped an elderly woman to protect her right to own the land plot that she inherited from her mother. An indecent neighbour tried to deprive the woman from her legacy in the court.

Compensations for temporarily displaced persons for residents of Vynohradne village of the Region of Donetsk, where fierce fightings took place until recently, have been suspended. It all happened because Mariupol town council has changed administrative borders of Mariupol attaching new territories, and Vynohradne village, in particular, to them. Accordingly, now residents of the village are being deprived of the status of the involuntarily displaced persons and corresponding cash payments.

The First of September Day is the way forward. The way that must not always be smooth and free of obstacles. It happened so that today we are divided by blockposts and “borders”, but the more valuable our desire for unity is. We should not be discouraged, we should not lose faith.

We would like to offer you the Briefer#11 of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union for August 2015 issued within USAID Human Rights in Action Program.

A man was attacked and brutally abused just because of being considered a homosexual. Law enforcement authorities ignored the victim’s complaints. The criminal case has been initiated only after involvement of human rights defenders.

For more than 10 months human rights defenders from the Regional Centre for Human Rights (RCHR) supported by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union have been seeking to prove before the court that the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) discriminates the Crimeans. The latter were declared non-residents and their access to bank services was limited. Finally, the plenum of the Supreme Court of Ukraine acknowledged the obvious thing that the National Bank had no authority to do this.

The lawyers of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union provide legal assistance to immigrants from the occupied Crimea and ATO area.

We would like to offer you the Briefer#10 of the USAID Human Rights in Action Program for July 2015 that is implemented by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union.

The situation of persons with mental health problems remains a serious challenge for Ukraine’s obligations in human rights. Permanent dependence of such persons on other people, the dominant roles of special residential institutions for medical care and social services are the main characteristics of public policy which results in stigmatization and discrimination of the above mentioned category.