Herashchenko: Ukrainian PACE Delegation Expressed Outrage about Secretary-General’s Position

The Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is drafting a letter to express its outrage that the Annual Report of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland doesn’t mention multiple violations of human rights in Crimea and Donbas, Iryna Herashchenko, First Deputy Chair of the Ukrainian Parliament, posted [ed.: the text of this Facebook post is in the Ukrainian language] on her Facebook page on Monday, June 20.

She informed that MP Serhii Soboliev raised their common question to the Secretary-General: "How did it happen that the 104-page report hasn’t a single word about the violations of fundamental human rights in the annexed Crimea and the occupied Donbas, no single mention tortures and detention of Crimean Tatars, prisoners, infringement of their right to life, freedom of speech, and security?"

According to Herashchenko, Jagland’s response was as awful as cynical. "He claimed that the information about human rights in the occupied Donbas and Crimea was not allegedly included in the report, because …the report reflects only the data provided by special monitoring missions of the Council of Europe, etc. And since no missions were admitted to Crimea and Donbas last year, the report has no information on these violations," Herashchenko added.

"His answer perplexed us, and caused outrage among our delegation. It appears that since Russia closed the occupied territories from the world, the Council of Europe will keep silence about humiliations that Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars suffer? It’s a bloody shame. Our delegation is drafting a letter to jump all over the position of the Secretary-General," the Ukrainian delegate notes.

She also described the changed attitudes of PACE towards the Ukrainian situation. "Russia employs a lot of resources to work with political groups inside PACE. We feel the changed attitude, softer talk, and hear calls to return Russia’s delegation to PACE this year. Even the groups that traditionally supported Ukraine in our pursuance of European values and human rights – including liberal, conservative groups, and the European People’s Party – have their attitudes changed, let alone the socialists," Herashchenko went on.

She referred to another alarm bell – the rapporteur from the Czech Republic who is now producing a report on the Donbas war’s results was not allowed to postpone the deadline to present her paper, notwithstanding that the situation in Donbas is getting worse. It is one of the only precedents in PACE history, Herashchenko says.

"Ukraine is really struggling to protect the world from total defeat of its principles. Someday, European politicians will feel shame for their conformism now. But we have to stand our ground and not give Russia a single change to escape punishment for the war and killings of Ukrainians," Herashchenko stressed.

Source: Ukrayinska Pravda