28.07.2011

Hate speech on police websites

Volodymyr Batchaev in his latest article asks whether the hate speech on police websites is merely the result of legal illiteracy, or actual encouragement for the public to discrimination. On 20 June this year a court in Sevastopol found the leader of the Cossack Society “Sobol”, Vitaly Khramov guilty of incitement to inter-ethnic enmity under Article 161 of the Criminal Code and imposed a fine of 23 thousand UAH.

25.07.2011

Alternative Report on Ukraine’s implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

There is no systematic State policy in Ukraine for countering discrimination. Various bodies of power deal with particular areas while other directions, such as protection from discrimination or help for victims of discrimination do not exist at all. There is also a lack of systematic State assessment of the scale of discrimination and the effectiveness of the activities of bodies involved in countering it. The main source of information, therefore, is data gathered by civic organizations which cannot, however, reflect the real scale of the problem.

25.07.2011

Comprehensive anti-discrimination law drafted

The Coalition on Countering Discrimination which is made up of over 20 civic organizations has prepared a comprehensive draft law “On protection from discrimination”. News about the draft law and why it is needed was provided at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday, organized by the Inter-regional Centre for LGBT Studies “Donbas-SocProject” and supported by the International Renaissance Foundation.

08.04.2011

Amendments to migration legislation: Punish and ban, or resolve the problems?

The No Borders Project warns that the amendments to migration legislation adopted on 5 April 2011 pose the threat of greater abuse and human rights violations, while giving some hope for positive development of one important constitutional concept.

15.02.2011

La Strada – Ukraine outraged by unconstitutional Cabinet of Ministers Instruction

In response to the latest discriminatory “innovation” in domestic legislation which is this time seen in an experiment which cuts access for Ukrainian women to studying in Ministry of the Interior higher educational institutes, La Strada – Ukraine has sent letters to the President’s Administration, the Verkhovna Rada, the Council of Ministries, the Prime Minister and the Human Rights Ombudsperson. We are asking for reconsideration of legislative innovations which violate the rights and freedoms guaranteed by Ukraine’s Constitution.

20.12.2010

Reprimand for Berkut officer who detained journalist Mustafa Nayem

The Kyiv Central Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs [MIA] has apparently issued a strong reprimand to the Berkut officer who on Monday, 13 December 2010, detained prominent Ukrainian journalist Mustafa Nayem.

08.12.2010

Monitoring begun of xenophobia and anti-Semitism on popular sites

At the initiative of National Deputy Oleksandr Feldman, monitoring has begun of popular Internet publications for manifestations of xenophobia, anti-Semitism and violence. Human rights activists urge caution.

26.11.2010

Disabled demand proper conditions in public transport

A fair amount of money is spent on creating conditions for the disabled, with attention especially paid to this in cities which will be hosting Euro 2012. Another matter whether people with special needs actually feel that the State is making an effort.

05.08.2010

How the Traffic Police do not ensure safe travelling

The Ministry of Internal Affairs traffic police were extraordinarily busy around the Orthodox Festival of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus on 28 July. Not however with trying to reduce Ukraine’s abysmal road fatality statistics. No, they had an entirely different task.

05.08.2010

You don’t beat according to passport

Rivne police officers have provoked an international scandal. During their operation “Illegal Alien” [“Nelegal”] in a local café they unwarrantedly detained two Azerbaijan nationals who were entirely legally in Ukraine, visiting their father. The two Azerbaijanis have complained to the Presidents of Ukraine and Azerbaijan, to the embassy and the law enforcement agencies. They assert that in the police station they were beaten and humiliated.

29.04.2010

So what is positive in restricting women’s right to take part in government?

Kateryna Levchenko, President of the International Women’s Human Rights Centre La Strada – Ukraine, has no intention of giving up her battle against the extraordinarily discriminatory remarks and actions of the country’s leaders. In a blog entry on Ukrainska Pravda she notes that the Prime Minister’s statement that “carrying out reforms is not a woman’s matter” had been forgotten amid the events over the agreement on the Black Sea Fleet with Russia, the judgment of the Constitutional Court [overturning its judgment of 18 months ago to this time effectively legitimize the present government] and subsequent increase in number of coalition members.

11.04.2010

Ukraine lagging behind in number of women in high office

According to the Head of the Board of the Ukrainian Women’s Fund, Natalya Karbovska, Ukraine has a pretty low number of women holding high-ranking public office. She believes this is unacceptable in a country where 54% of the population are women.

07.04.2010

Prime Minister Azarov to answer charges of discrimination in court

Kateryna Levchenko, President of the International Women’s Human Rights Centre La Strada – Ukraine and Olena Suslova, Head of the Information and Consultative Women’s Centre have filed law suits against the Prime Minister, Mykola Azarov.

16.02.2010

Nationalism and crime: an artificial link

A black guy and two white colleagues were sitting in their office near a petrol station when they heard a woman cry for help, saying she’s being robbed. They hurtled after the apparent criminal who was white, and the black guy managed to catch him. By that stage the police had turned up, and one of the officers grabbed the black guy, assuming him to be the criminal.

07.11.2009

Parliament increases liability for discrimination, and changes nothing

The Verkhovna Rada has, with a large majority, passed the Law “On amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine on liability for crimes based on racial, ethnic or religious intolerance”.

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