Ukrainian Culture Ministry says it is ready to report on combating discrimination

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Valeria Lutkovska has reminded officials that they will have to overcome discrimination, as well as to fulfill recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The representatives of the Culture Ministry of Ukraine have assured that they are ready to report, while the representatives of the Justice Ministry have not attended the meeting.

This is reported by the Human Rights Information Centre correspondent.

August 11-12, Ukraine will report in Geneva to the UN on its compliance with the recommendations received within the framework of the 19-21 periodic report of Ukraine (CERD/C /UKR/19-21).

The recommendations mainly relate to adoption and introduction of the anti-discrimination legislation, protection of the most vulnerable groups, in particular, Roma people, refugees, migrants and persons without citizenship, respect for minority rights, with a focus on the Crimean Tatars, as well as the observance of religious rights in Ukraine.

Lutkovska recalled that the human rights activists and non-governmental organizations had already submitted their alternative report with the recommendations for addressing existing problems to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The representative of the Culture Ministry, who attended the meeting, said that his agency was ready to report before the UN, particularly, on the issues concerning religious rights.

The representatives of the Justice Ministry did not attend the meeting chaired by the Ukrainian Ombudsperson.

“Many recommendations, such as adoption of the law to prevent discrimination, drafting the algorithm to collect data on hate crimes and other, migrate from year to year from one reports to other,” Iryna Fedorovych, the Head of the project “Without Borders” / NGO “Social Action Center”, said.

“The state is partially implementing our recommendations. For example, we finally have the law that is intended to protect us from discrimination. However, what does the state do for the people to be familiar with this law? The state does not engage in the awareness-raising activity at all, though it should do that…” Fedorovych said.

As for other important non-fulfilled requirements, the Government should combat stigmatization and marginalization of religious organizations, create a legal framework for enforcement of the rights of Roma people to self-organization, involve representatives of minority communities in all decision-making processes at the local level, promote the employment, issuance of documents, asylum and the like.

“The Committee will necessarily consider the religious issues, especially now, against the backdrop of the sacred procession [of the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate]. The issue of segregation of Roma will also be scrutinized especially carefully. For two years, the state has managed to invest not a single penny in the implementation of the Roma protection strategy…” said Aksana Filipishina, representative of the Ukrainian Ombudsperson for the rights of the child, non-discrimination and gender equality.

“The alternative reports contain a very specific list of recommendations for Ukraine to be able not just look good on the international arena, but also be a country free from discrimination,” UNDP Senior Program Manager in Ukraine, Yulia Shcherbinina, said.