Human rights in Ukraine

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
• (First) Optional Protocol to the ICCPR
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
• Optional Protocol to CEDAW
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
• Optional Protocol to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
• Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture
• Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (1951)
• Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (1967)

Ukraine signed but not yet ratified

• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

• European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) (1950)
• Protocol No. 6 to the ECHR concerning the abolition of the death penalty in times of peace (1983)
• Protocol No. 12 to the ECHR concerning the general prohibition of discrimination (2000)
• Protocol No. 13 to the ECHR concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances (2002)
• Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities

Ukraine had been labeled as "free" by organizations such as Freedom House in 2009.[1] In their report they stated: "Ukraine has one of the most vibrant civil societies in the region. Citizens are increasingly taking issues into their own hands, protesting against unwanted construction, and exposing corruption. There were no limits seen on NGO activities. Trade unions function, but strikes and worker protests were infrequently observed, even though dissatisfaction with the state of economic affairs was pervasive in the fall of 2008. Factory owners were seen as still able to pressure their workers to vote according to the owners’ preferences."[1]

On 20 October 2009 experts from the Council of Europe stated "in the last five years the experts from the Council of Europe who monitor Ukraine have expressed practically no concerns regarding the important [process of the] formation of a civil society in Ukraine. Ukraine is one of the democratic states in Europe that is securing human rights as a national policy, as well as securing the rights of national minorities."[8] According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), "while civil society institutions operate mostly without government interference, police abuse and violations of the rights of vulnerable groups … continue to mar Ukraine's human rights record."[9]

After the early 2010 election of President Viktor Yanukovych international organizations start to voice their concern. According to Freedom House, "Ukraine under President Yanukovych has become less democratic and, if current trends are left unchecked, may head down a path toward autocracy and kleptocracy."[10] Among the recent negative developments, they mentioned "a more restrictive environment for the media, selective prosecution of opposition figures, worrisome intrusiveness by the Security Service of Ukraine, widely criticized local elections in October 2010 … and erosion of basic freedoms of assembly and speech." This led Freedom House to downgrade Ukraine from "Free" to "Partly Free" in Freedom in the World 2011.[10] Also in 2011 Amnesty International spoke of "an increase in the number of allegations of torture and ill treatment in police custody, restrictions on the freedom of speech and assembly, as well as mass manifestations of xenophobia".[11]

In Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index 2010 Ukraine had fallen from 89th place to 131.[12] Neighboring Russia's press freedom was ranked at position 140.[13] The International Federation for Human Rights called Ukraine "one of the countries seeing the most serious violations against human rights activists" in December 2011.[14]

As of 17 January 2013 Ukraine lost all of its 211 cases at the European Court of Human Rights.[15]

Amendments to the constitution, which came into force, were detrimental for fair trial in that they re-introduced the so-called general supervision by the prosecutor's office. Other serious problems included lengthy periods for review of cases because the courts were overloaded; infringement of equality of arms; non-observance of the presumption of innocence; the failure to execute court rulings; and high level of corruption in courts.[16] Independent lawyers and human rights activists have complained Ukrainian judges regularly come under pressure to hand down a certain verdict.[17]

According to Freedom House the judiciary has become more efficient and less corrupt since the Orange Revolution.[1]

Recent (since 2010) trails of high-profile political figures[nb 1] Yulia Tymoshenko, Yuriy Lutsenko, Igor Didenko,[19] Anatoliy Makarenko[20] and Valeriy Ivaschenko[21] have been described by the European Commission, the United States and other international organizations as "unfair, untransparent and not independent"[22] and "selective prosecution of political opponents".[23][24][25] President Viktor Yanukovych stated late February 2012 these trails "didn't meet European standards and principles".[26]

In 2007, in Ukraine's provinces numerous, anonymous attacks[27] and threats persisted against journalists, who investigated or exposed corruption or other government misdeeds.[28][29] The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists concluded in 2007 that these attacks, and police reluctance in some cases to pursue the perpetrators, were "helping to foster an atmosphere of impunity against independent journalists."[9][30]

Ukraine's ranking in Reporters Without Borders's Press Freedom Index has in the latest years been around the 90th spot (89 in 2009,[31] 87 in 2008[32]), while it occupied the 112th spot in 2002[33] and even the 132nd spot in 2004.[34]

Since Viktor Yanukovych was elected President of Ukraine in February 2010 Ukrainian journalists and international journalistic watchdogs have complained about a deterioration of press freedom in Ukraine.[35][36][37][38] Yanukovych responded (in May 2010) that he "deeply values press freedom" and that "free, independent media that must ensure society's unimpeded access to information".[35] Anonymous journalists stated early May 2010 that they were voluntarily tailoring their coverage so as not to offend the Yanukovych administration and the Azarov Government.[39] The Azarov Government denies censoring the media,[40] so did the Presidential Administration[41] and President Yanukovych himself.[42][43]

The ongoing crisis in Ukraine has resulted in a major threat to press freedom in recent months. A May 2014 report from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stated that there were approximately 300 instances of violent attacks on the media in Ukraine since November 2013.[44]

A crackdown on what authorities describe as "pro-separatist" points of view has triggered dismay among Western human rights monitors. For example, the 11 September 2014 shutdown of Vesti newspaper by the Ukrainian Security Service for "violating Ukraine's territorial integrity" brought swift condemnation from the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.[45][nb 2]

Ukraine has also shut down several television stations operated by Russia on the grounds that they purvey propaganda.[45] In February 2017 the Ukrainian government banned the commercial importation of books from Russia, which had accounted for up to 60% of all titles sold.[47]

FEMEN is a feminist protest group founded in Ukraine in 2008[48] The organization became internationally known for organizing [49][50] topless protests against sex tourism,[49][51] religious institutions,[52] sexism and homophobia[53]

Amnesty International has appealed for the release of Ukrainian journalist Ruslan Kotsababy and declared him a prisoner of conscience.[nb 3]

Reports of torture and ill-treatment by police persisted during 2007 year, as did unduly long periods of pretrial custody. Of major concern were the inhumane conditions in detention with overcrowded cells, appalling sanitary conditions and the lack of appropriate medical care. During the year numerous group suicide attempts took place in some penal colonies.[16][55]

New evidence of torture was published since May 2016. According to Ivan Šimonović, UN assistant secretary-general for human rights, as published by The Times, both Ukrainian authorities and the authorities of separatist Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics allow torture and run secret jails, and "disregard for human rights" had become entrenched and systemic. The New York Times reports that, after an exchange of prisoners, some detainees have left Ukrainian jails with visible injuries. On 25 May 2016, the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) suspended its visit to Ukraine after the government had denied it access to places in several parts of the country where it suspects these secret jails were located.[56][57][58][59]

The Ukrainian government has taken a number of positive steps to fight HIV/AIDS, chiefly in the area of legislative and policy reform. But these important commitments are being undermined in the criminal justice and health systems by widespread human rights abuses against drug users, sex workers, and people living with HIV/AIDS.[9]

The Ukrainian asylum system barely functions due to a highly decentralized structure spanning several government agencies and departments. The process of creating a single migration system has been slow; political interference in the system is common and abuses of migrants and asylum seekers' rights continue.

There has been a growing awareness of human trafficking as a human rights issue in Europe. The end of communism has contributed to an increase in human trafficking, with the majority of victims being women forced into prostitution.[60][61] In 2013 Ukraine was a country of origin and country of transit for persons, primarily women and children, trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation and forced labor.[62] Charcoal production and pornography have been listed in the U.S. Department of Labor's List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor under the country of Ukraine in December 2014. The Government of Ukraine has shown some commitment to combat trafficking, but has been criticized for not fully complying with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, and for inadequate trafficking prevention efforts.[63]

Violence against women is an entrenched social problem in Ukrainian culture engendered by traditional male and female stereotypes.[64][65] It was not recognized during Soviet era, but in recent decades the issue became an important topic of discussion in Ukrainian society and among academic scholars. According to the estimation of OSCE the violence towards women is widespread in Ukraine and it is associated with three times more deaths than the ongoing armed conflict in the eastern provinces of the country.[66]

In 2017 a new law on education has been adopted by Ukrainian government to reform the education system. The language provisions of the law made it highly controversial both locally and in neighboring states, as it envisages that all secondary education will be taught in Ukrainian. According to the law an instruction in minority languages at kindergarten and primary school level remains unaffected, but at the secondary level national minority languages are now being reduced to special lessons. The approval of the legislation provoked a harsh reaction in Hungary, Romania, Russia, Poland, Bulgaria and some other countries. For example, Romanian parliament approved declaration criticizing the law and warned that Ukraine cannot go far toward EU integration without a respect to the linguistic rights of national minorities.[67]

Ukrainian authorities have submitted the law for review by the Venice Commission, a body which rules on rights and democracy disputes in Europe. In an opinion adopted formally the commission said that "the strong domestic and international criticism drawn especially by the provisions reducing the scope of education in minority languages seems justified".[68]