Human Rights and the Police: Recommendations from UMDPL Experts

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27.06.2018

The police should switch from random changes to comprehensive institutional reforms, say experts from Association of Ukrainian Human Rights Monitors in the report “Human Rights and the Police - 2017”.

While presenting the results of the study, monitors stressed on those changes in the legislation which are necessary to make piloted initiatives work in a full mode, such as changes in the legislation regarding detective position, personal identification of police workers and others.

An important issue in the reform of the Ukrainian police remains observance of informational rights. This is about both access to information and personal data protection, which is vital for ensuring transparency and openness of the institution, which is declared by the senior management. "We see that the police groundlessly restrict access to information on some of its activities. Another important issue is the lack of personal data protection. The law on collecting biometric data and DNA were the subject of the constitutional submission of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner on Human Rights, which is now under consideration by the Constitutional Court. There is also the need to launch new independent state institution - the Information Commissioner, which would ensure observance of informational rights ", mentioned Irina Kushnir, co-founder of the NGO Ukrainian Institute of Human Rights, the representative of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner on Human Rights on Access to Information in 2013-2018. 

Check the report here (in Ukrainian only)