today 25.05.2013 03:29
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Human Rights in Ukraine Information website of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group |
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Two opposition MPs have dropped a legislative clanger by proposing criminal liability for unlawful visual surveillance of an individual in a public place 
President Yanukovych has made many eyebrow-raising appointments over the last three years. Considering the stiff competition, this may not be the worst, but with respect to corruption it is perhaps in a league of its own 
The introduction of named railway tickets and the gathering of information about passengers’ movements infringe the right to privacy. Nobody has informed passengers of such a database, and has not asked for their consent to having data about their travels inserted and retained 
Opposition politicians and journalists are increasingly being bugged having their email addresses hacked. The victims are convinced that this is intimidation on the order of those in high places 
Taras Zozulinsky, investigative journalist for the newspaper Express is convinced that the bug is because of his journalist investigations and asks journalists to give maximum attention to the criminal investigation 
The website Nashi Hroshi [Our Money] which monitors how the authorities spend taxpayers’ money reports another scandalous aspect of a law already condemned by human rights organizations 
“Ukraine fatigue” is palpable in the wake of the parliamentary elections, however two more dangerous laws just signed into force make it clear that turning away cannot be an option 
The President’s “veto” of the “biometric law” proved as make-believe as the exercise in the Verkhovna Rada on Tuesday in which the ruling majority obediently passed all amendments leaving the causes for grave concern untouched 
The President has formally used his power of veto with respect to the Law on a Unified State Demographic Register Unfortunately neither the circumstances of the veto nor the scant details available give any grounds for confidence 
The President’s decision regarding a dangerous law creating enormous scope for State invasion of privacy, abuse and a huge financial burden on individual Ukrainians is now overdue and anxiously awaited 
It considers the Law on a United State Demographic Register to run counter to Ukraine’s Constitution, international norms and standards regarding protection of privacy, as well as the obligations Ukraine has taken on before the European community 
The Ministry of Infrastructure is planning to introduce changes to railway transport, including checks on passports (internal ID documents) both when buying tickets and when boarding a train 
A new law would enable police to receive access to considerable amounts of information about all mobile telephone owners, with the procedure for this, in breach of the Constitution, being stipulated by the Cabinet of Ministers, not by law 
Since the Law on a Unified State Demographic Register is alleged to be needed to implement the EU-Ukraine Visa Liberalization Action Plan, it seems imperative that EU representatives are fully aware of the grave concern over this bill among human rights and civic organizations. 
Viktor Timoshchuk has hard-hitting questions about a law which will cost billions, with it still unclear who will pay, why there has been no tender and why so many documents need biometric chips as well as why the government wants a database with so much information about Ukrainian citizens 
The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union outlines the reasons why this law is in breach of the Constitution, the Personal Data Protection Act and international human rights agreements 
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