Almost 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens are internally displaced as a result of illegal annexation of the AR Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation as well as Russian military intervention and terrorist threat in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. 1.2 million of these IDPs are eligible to vote. NGO representatives and Civil Network OPORA in particular have discussed problems related to social and political rights of IDPs at OSCE's Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw – the largest annual human rights and democracy conference. Head of the Board at Civil Network OPORA Olha Aivazovska was speaking at the conference on 25 September. She called to prevent indirect discrimination of internally displaced persons and give them right to elect local self-government bodies as a significant instrument for integration in new territorial communities.
Human Dimension Implementation Meeting is Europe's largest annual human rights and democracy conference organized by the Office for Democratic Institution and Human Rights (ODIHR) as a platform for 57 OSCE participating States, partners, civil society and international organizations. The event is aimed to take stock of the implementation of the OSCE human dimension commitments, discuss associated challenges, share good practices and make recommendations for further improvement in regard to democracy and human rights. The problem of IDPs' rights and freedoms was also considered at the conference.
It should be mentioned that both the government and political subjects do not fully understand or recognize the vulnerability of internally displaced persons as a social group (related to instant destruction of social connections, loosing the social status, dwellings and other property, undergoing family splits), what complicates any efforts aimed to secure equal opportunities for internally displaced persons willing to realize constitutional rights and freedoms.
Olha Aivazovska, the Head of the board of the Civil Network OPORA, has stated: “The tasks related to integration of IDPs have acquired special importance due to the coming local elections which will be held on October 25th, 2015. A number of NGOs, including OPORA, initiated a broad-scale discussion on the need to ensure voting rights of IDPs and prepared a draft law № 2501a-1 “On amendments to some legislative acts guaranteeing voting rights of internally displaced persons”.The bill provides that internally displaced persons who have chosen to integrate in new territorial communities can participate in local elections after filing the corresponding personal application.
Head of the board of the Civil Network OPORA Olha Aivazovska called to prevent indirect discrimination of internally displaced persons and give them right to elect local self-government bodies as a significant instrument for integration and a proof that Ukraine adheres to international obligations, particularly before UN and Council of Europe.
Find text of the speech below.
Speech
Towards regulation of IDPs' voting rights of in Ukraine
Dear colleagues,
Annexation of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation, as well as Russian military intervention and terrorist threat in Donetsk and Luhansk regions has caused several waves of large-scale internal displacement in Ukraine. As of the end of August 2015, there were 1.2 million internally displaced persons registered in Ukraine who has the right to vote.
PACE Resolution as of January 27, 2015, urges the Ukrainian authorities to respect the right of internally displaced persons to make a free choice as to whether to return home, integrate into the local community or resettle in another part of the country, as well as assist them in carrying out their choice. In addition, the Resolution stated that Ukraine should fully comply with international standards established according to guidelines for movement of persons within the state as of 1998, which provide guarantees for integration of these people in the new territorial communities and empower them to influence on the national and local decision-making.
The tasks related to integration of IDPs have acquired special importance due to the coming local elections that will be held on October 25th, 2015. A number of NGOs, including OPORA, initiated a broad-scale discussion on the need to ensure voting rights of IDPs and prepared a Draft Law #2501a-1 on Amendments to Some Legislative Acts Guaranteeing Voting Rights of Internally Displaced Persons. The draft law provides IDPs with the right to vote in accordance with the place of residence specified in the certificate of registration and specifies that they have to file a personal request. The request should be submitted to the Register Maintenance Body, which is responsible for entering corresponding changes into the electronic database. In this respect IDPs only change their voting address as the registration address will still refer to the occupied territories. Thus, IDPs will not lose their legal connection with the place they used to live before the displacement and for sure will keep their mobility – will be able to visit relatives, sell properties etc. Therefore, we proposed a declarative principle of participation in local elections for those internally displaced persons who, among other options for planning their future, have chosen to integrate into the new local community.
It is important to prevent indirect discrimination of internally displaced persons in terms of realization of their constitutional right to elect local governments. Moreover, in the times of Russian aggression, participation in elections should be viewed as an important tool for the integration of society and internally displaced persons. The participation of IDPs in the elections at all levels is an essential mechanism for ensuring not only political, but also social and economic rights, guaranteeing prospects for solving a wide range of problems of this group of citizens. If the IDPs don’t participate in local elections and if they don’t become the subjects of local policy, they won’t expect to solve their burning problems, which dependent on current and strategic activities of local government in Ukraine.
Governments and parliaments sidestepping on the issue of ensuring the voting rights of internally displaced persons not only make it impossible to find an effective solution to this problem, but also contribute to strengthening discriminatory attitudes in the society. When the government keeps silent, those who are not interested in the integration of society and internally displaced in particular make their voices heard.
The legislative initiative of civil society for ensuring the voting rights of internally displaced persons is aimed at their integration, strengthening the consolidation of society, preventing discriminatory policy against persons encountering the war in their homes. At the same time, our initiative includes a number of legislative safeguards against potential election fraud. So for the time being, the Ukrainian government has all possible mechanisms required for integrating internally displaced persons and preventing restriction of their constitutional rights and freedoms. It should make use of these mechanisms.
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Reference:
Civil Network OPORA conducts citizen observation of local elections in Ukraine, scheduled for 25 October 2015. Civic monitoring conducted by OPORA - is a type of network activity, aimed at impartial assessment of the preparation and conduct of elections, as well as preventing electoral violations through comprehensive civic action. 144 long-term observers were deployed to all Ukrainian regions on 5 September, and 3000 short-term observers will join them on the election day.