Information Note on the Working Meeting of the Public Council under the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Lviv Region, 4 March 2008.
On 4 March 2008, a regular working meeting of the Public Council under the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in the Lviv Region took place.
At the meeting, a new co-chair of the Public Council was elected from the side of the police: Vasyl Mykhailovych Pisnyi, Major General and Head of the Main Directorate. Members of the Public Council informed the new management of the directorate about the main areas of the Council’s work. Among these, they discussed the work of the Public Council in Drohobych, as a series of high-profile crimes occurred in that region in 2007, and during the investigation of these cases, there were instances of human rights violations regarding the denial of access for lawyers to detainees. In order to ensure the observance of human rights in the work of the Drohobych police, training sessions were held for employees of the district department regarding human rights compliance in police work, and the frequency of mobile group visits to Drohobych was increased. Every second Tuesday from 17:00 to 19:00, members of the Public Council hold a public reception at the Drohobych District Department. In the near future, it is planned to hold two events to improve interaction between the local police and the Drohobych community. The first is a roundtable involving representatives of the police, public human rights organisations, and local authorities; the second is the holding of public hearings regarding the problems of police work in the Drohobych district.
At the meeting, note was taken regarding more active participation in thematic working groups by Council members from the police side, who do not always interact effectively with human rights organisations.
In fulfilment of the Presidential Decree of 7 February 2008, “On priority measures to ensure the realisation and guarantee of the constitutional right to appeal,” it was decided at the Council meeting to involve two members of the Public Council in joint receptions with the Head of the Directorate to assist in a more thorough consideration of citizens' appeals. We recall that members of the Public Council are present at all receptions of citizens, both with the Head and his deputies. This decision was made back on 10 November 2006. Also, weekly trips to the districts of the Lviv region for the reception of citizens take place, in which a representative of the Public Council is also involved. Furthermore, the Public Council has resumed joint consideration of applications involving the applicant, officials of the Internal Affairs agencies, and members of the Public Council. Note was taken of the positive experience of the citizen reception held in the town of Vynnyky in February 2008, jointly with the mayor, the prosecutor, and the Head of the Lychakivskyi District Police, with the involvement of Public Council members. Among the applications considered, a significant portion concerned the work of city deputies and municipal services; as for the work of the police, attention was drawn to two cases that have been taken under the control of the Public Council.
Following the monitoring of the elections on 30 September 2007, the OPORA Civil Network noted violations of electoral rights and working conditions for police officers on the territory of Ukraine. Therefore, at the meeting on 8 December 2007, it was decided to create a working group to prepare amendments to electoral legislation regarding the protection of the rights of Internal Affairs agency employees. Members of the Public Council spoke about the initial measures taken in this regard and expanded the composition of the working group to include police officers.
It was decided that the meetings of the Public Council should be held in the last week of the month.