Journalists and civil society organisations urge Ukraine's Parliament to open its doors to media

On the first day of the 11th session of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s Parliament), journalists and representatives from a number of civil society organisations urged the parliament to be more open to the media and society, as well as to strengthen security measures, such as shelter preparations.

Source: Institute of Mass Information; Radio Liberty

Details: In a joint statement, a number of civil society and media organisations called on the Verkhovna Rada to "return to ensuring the principles of openness in its activities".

The statement’s authors made the following requests:

• to ensure that journalists can attend Verkhovna Rada meetings and communicate with MPs on the sidelines of Parliament;
• to see to it that agendas for Verkhovna Rada meetings are published ahead of time;
• to ensure that the participation of civil society organisations in Verkhovna Rada committee meetings is promoted and supported.

According to the statement's authors, the admission of journalists to the Verkhovna Rada building, as well as the advance publication of a list of the draft laws scheduled for consideration, would provide Ukrainians with information of public importance.

Quote from the statement: "It is also important that representatives of civil society should have the opportunity to participate in meetings of parliamentary committees and express their positions on registered bills and initiatives that are to be developed."

Provided that security measures are implemented, the statement’s authors believe that such transparency in Parliament will boost public trust in its activities and encourage active collaboration between civil society organisations and MPs.

The statement's authors explained that while the introduction of restrictions in 2022 could be justified by national security concerns as a result of the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion, the fact that Parliament is still sitting behind closed doors in 2024 raises many questions.

Quote from the statement: "Journalists' lack of access to the Verkhovna Rada is undermining democracy. What is the point of talking about the dangers of a media presence in the parliamentary chamber when society learns about the progress and outcomes of the consideration of bills through live broadcasts by MPs on social media?

Furthermore, Parliament has too many members for its sittings to go unnoticed. As a result, rather than continuing the current policy of not allowing journalists to enter the Parliament building, we should be discussing security measures such as getting shelters ready."

The statement’s authors say restoring the public's ability to communicate with MPs in an understandable and transparent manner "will be a sign of the preservation of democracy".

They believe that "the media must have the ability to inform the public about what issues are being considered by the country's single legislative body, and what arguments are being heard during debates".

"The openness of Parliament implies the availability of information about its procedures to the public, as well as the creation of conditions for full communication between Ukrainian MPs and Ukrainian society," the statement said.

Among its signatories are journalists from Bihus.info, Hromadske.ua, Radio NV, Vikna-Novyny, Teksty, Ukrainske Radio, ICTV, The Ukraïner, The Kyiv Independent, Suspilne, Slidstvo.info, as well as the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, the Commission on Journalistic Ethics, the ZMINA Human Rights Centre, IMI, Mediarukh, KRYMSOS, Donbas SOS, SKHID-SOS, Media Initiative for Human Rights, OPORA, Automaidan, DEJURE, and others.

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