BY
Ms. Valeriya Lutkovska, the oft forgotten (due to insufficient powers) yet
very capable #Human_Rights Commissioner of Ukraine, the UNDP, and the Government
of Denmark have conspired to produce an updated Human Rights Strategy for
Ukraine for the period 2016 – 2017. Not before time, for the last human
rights national strategy your author can recall was published in 2012 in what
was a very different time and very different circumstance. Albeit the
main core concerns of 2012 continue to feature heavily within the 2016-17
strategy, current and recent events have pushed forward human rights issues
that were clearly unforeseeable in 2012.
As all policy and strategy can only remain good policy and strategy if
reviewed and “tweaked” (lest it become ineffective or counterproductive) on a
sensible and timely basis, clearly the
new strategy document is long overdue.
Naturally the new strategy reads like a sensible “to do” list, and
naturally like all lists, they are far easier to compile than to actually
achieve and implement – particularly when achieving and implementing them is in
part dependent upon a Verkhovna Rada crafting and passing legislation, the
State budget for necessary financing, and institutional support and compliance
from the institutions of State that will often fall foul of the Human Rights
Commissioner opinions.
The new strategy document however, does what it should by way of planting a
peg in the floor as to where Ukraine is currently, where it is expected to be
by the end of 2017, and the issues (almost in the traditional SWAT and PEST
analysis format) that will affect achieving the goals outlined within the
specified time frame – or not.
Generally the strategy seems to strike a reasonable balance between
prevention and due process, constituency accessibility and education, a
striving for best practice and an honest self-assessment of current
shortcomings.
Perhaps more worthy of note however, is the clear desire to confront,
cajole, and cooperate with the political class in a far more public manner than
has previously been the case.
If that be so, then a reader can only hope that both Government of Denmark
and the UNDP (and others) will have Ms. Lutkovska’s back, for the more she
and her office intercede in the crafting of legislation, any public naming and
shaming where appropriate, the robust advocacy for dealing with truly systemic
human rights problems within Ukraine, and the significant easing of
accessibility to the Human Rights office for the citizenry, the greater the
temptation will be for the political class to politicise the office of Human
Rights Commissioner.
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