Ukrainian human rights defender from the ocuppied Donbass Andrey Drevitskiy thanks to the President of USA Barack Obama

“I call on States to honour their obligation to protect human rights every day of the year. I call on people to hold their governments to account. And I call for special protections for the human rights defenders who courageously serve our collective cause”, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stressed addressing the international community on the occasion of international Human Rights Day on 10 December 2014.

“The activities of our team are really very difficult and dangerous, as we are always in the midst of the warfare. Today, involvement of human rights defenders into the fight for human dignity and honour in the East of Ukraine puts their lives at risk even forcing them to evacuate the whole families out of the region”, the human rights defender Andriy Drevytskyi said commenting on the human rights protection in Ukraine.
According to him, the separatists persecute not only civic activists, members of ethnic, religious or sexual minorities, but also all the conscientious citizens who oppose the domination of pro-Russian gunmen in the Donbas region.

“We strive saving people who live in dread for their lives, are exposed to permanent abuse and torture. It is really important that today the international community responds to our calls, as representatives of the European countries, and especially of the United States, provide substantial support to victims and often help saving their lives”, Andriy Drevytskyi added.

He told that now such international foundations as SILC, Lifeline, Front Line and the NGO ‘Freedom House’ are patronizing special projects aiming at emergency assistance to be lent to aggrieved human rights defenders who are ‘in the forefront’ of the democratic battle against the Russian military aggression and terrorist groups acting in Ukraine.

“During my visit to the United States in September this year, I was struck by the level of support the American people, NGOs, charitable foundations, politicians, Congressmen and personally the President of the USA Barack Obama express to the Ukrainian people while they are struggling for democratic values”, the human rights activist emphasized.

“After my meeting with the US President, I can confidently say that the Ukrainian civil society is not alone facing modern challenges because all the American people help us preserving democracy and resisting those internal and external threats that can affect its development,” Andriy Drevytskyi underlined.

Highlighting the main areas of human rights activities, he stressed the importance of the project ‘Public monitoring of compliance of the human rights in Ukraine with international standards’ to have been launched in cooperation with the Lifeline Programme and the Swedish International Liberal Centre when the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko had signed a number of interrelated laws on 12-14 August 2014. According to human rights defenders, these laws should be brought in line with the Constitution of Ukraine in order to respect fundamental rights and freedoms of man and the citizen in practice. Ukrainian civic activists and the representatives of the international community stand for progressive democratic values and convince the national authorities of the need to adjust these laws in line with the Constitution of Ukraine and key principles of the international law.

In this regard, Andriy Drevytskyi addressed the President of Ukraine suggesting him to hold the meeting with representatives of the civil society in order to discuss an algorithm for solving the problems which hinder development of democracy in Ukraine and threaten achievements of the Revolution of Dignity, such as: bringing the Ukrainian legislation in line with the Constitution of Ukraine and key acts of the international law; enhancing fight against corruption; intensifying processes of power renewal; and lustrating corrupted officials and judges.

Note:
International Human Rights Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly on 4 December 1950. The delegates adopted Resolution 423 (V) which called on the nations around the world to draw attention to the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948 that is “a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations”. The states of the world were invited to celebrate Human Rights Day, and to exert increasing efforts to defend the fundamental rights and freedoms. They were called on reporting through the UN Secretary General concerning the annual observance of Human Rights Day.
This year’s theme of Human Rights Day is ‘Human Rights 365’ This slogan encompasses the idea that every state, society, and person should recognize universality of human rights which are de facto advocated by the human rights defenders for 365 days of the year running. The UN intended to celebrate the fundamental proposition in the Universal Declaration that each one of us, everywhere, at all times is entitled to the full range of human rights, that human rights belong equally to each of us and bind us together as a global community with the same ideals and values.

This photograph is provided by THE WHITE HOUSE and may not be used in any commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the
President, the First Family, or the White House.

Nina Martsynyuk, sprotiv.org

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Дата публікації: 12-12-2014 13:14 |  переглядів