Draft law on amnesty in 2016 should be reviewed – human rights activists
Article 2 of the law on amnesty in 2016 requires careful revision and change, Chairman of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group Yevhen Zakharov believes.
According to him, many servicemen, who have committed serious crimes, will escape liability.
“I am talking about those engaged in looting. All these articles do not fall within the especially serious crimes against life and health. This is about those who were blocking transport communications and captured transport companies, resulting in deaths,” the human rights activist said, noting that this will lead to the promotion of impunity.
“On the one hand, the law will pardon the people, who cannot be pardoned. On the other hand, if we consider specific cases, the people have been groundlessly accused because of completely wrong qualification. For example, what is qualified now as brigandage was not qualified as such an offence in the spring of 2014. The terms of peaceful time cannot be used in war time,” he added.
Yevhen Zakharov noted that the combatants were entitled to special treatment in the context of the problem. Therefore, the legislator should carefully consider and stipulate the provisions of the bill.
Earlier, Oleksandra Matviychuk, the Chairwoman of the Board of the Center for Civil Liberties, said that the draft law on amnesty in 2016, containing an ATO participant status, would help the law enforcement officers, who committed crimes during Euromaidan protests, to escape the responsibility.
July 7, 247 MPs voted in favor of the bill No. 4255.
Article 2 of the document suggests pardoning for a certain period of time the people “who defended the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, took part in the ATO, ensured its conduct, being present in the ATO area in the period of its conduct, got the status of combatants. It is also offered to relieve from responsibility, in particular, those accused and convicted of not especially serious crimes against life and health.
