Ukraine's first ombudsman visits Ukrainian Free University

MUNICH - The office of ombudsman is a venerable institution in various European countries that acts on behalf of citizens whose human rights have been violated. It serves as an intermediary between a person arrested or imprisoned and the government of a given country.

In Ukraine, the ombudsman institution was founded on December 23, 1997, by the Verkhovna Rada. It is headed by the noted Ukrainian scholar of law and jurisprudence Nina Karpachova; her staff numbers over 100 workers, including volunteers. Ms. Karpachova recently paid a visit to the Ukrainian Free University.

Despite numerous objections from the government, Ms. Karpachova was recently re-elected to another five-year term as ombudsman. In addition, her jurisdiction has been expanded to include Ukrainians living abroad. Thus, today she not only visits prisoners and detainees on Ukrainian soil, but also citizens of Ukraine in the Russian Federation and in Europe whose rights are suspected of having been violated.

Ms. Karpachova said she is especialy concerned with the fate of young women who have been lured into modern slavery and prostitution in various European countries. Over 7 million Ukrainians are currently living abroad - many of them illegaly and thus deprived of elementary protection by local law enforcement.

In a dynamic and often moving manner, Ms. Karpachova told a meeting of UFU professors and Ukrainian community representatives, chaired by Dr. Leonid Rudnytzky, of her experiences as an ombudsman focusing primarily on the fate of women. She said that despite numerous transgressious and human rights violations on the part of the government, things are better in Ukraine.

"When I visited Yulia Tymoshenko in the lock-up ward at the Lukianivka prison I asked her about her impression of the staff's attitude to her. She answered: 'Good, not just normal but good.' I am saying this to be objective. Certain positive changes in prison conditions have really taken place. Two-thirds of the bars are removed from the windows in the Lukyanivka prison, so the fresh air and sunshine come to the cells more freely," she said. Recently things have improved even more, Ms. Karpachova added, "but much remains to be done."

Ms. Karpachova's visit to the UFU, which she managed to squeeze in before her flight to Geneva, Switzerland, where she attened a special session at the United Nations offices there, left her Munich audience with a feeling of optimism. As one member of the audience put it, it's really uplifting to know that there are people in Ukraine of the caliber of Nina Karpachova.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, April 18, 2004, No. 16, Vol. LXXII

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