Open appeal
to the President of Ukraine, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Head of the VRU Committee on Judicial Policy and Justice
from analytical non-governmental organizations, organizations protecting human rights and helping internally displaced persons to overcome the crisis.
Mr. Petro Oleksiiovych, Mr. Volodymyr Borysovych, Mr. Ruslan Petrovych,
We call you to prevent indirect discrimination of internally displaced persons and guarantee 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.
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.
However, both the government and political subjects do not fully understand or recognize the vulnerability of internally displaced persons as a social group, what complicates any efforts aimed to secure equal opportunities for internally displaced persons willing to realize constitutional rights and freedoms.
Moreover, in the times of Russian aggression, participation in elections should be viewed as an important tool for the integration of internally displaced persons in society. 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.
After a broad-scale discussion on the need to ensure voting rights of IDPs, expert NGOs have prepared a draft law № 2501a-1 “On amendments to some legislative acts guaranteeing voting rights of internally displaced persons”. The draft law provides internally displaced persons with the right to vote at the place of residence specified in IDP 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.
The legislative initiative of civil society aimed at ensuring the voting rights of internally displaced persons assists their integration, strengthens consolidation of society, and prevents discriminatory policy against persons encountering the war in their homes. At the same time, draft law #2501-1a includes a number of legislative safeguards against potential election fraud.
We call to apply all the necessary instruments for integration of internally displaced persons and prevent limitation of their constitutional rights and liberties.