Appeal to the Ombudsperson Nina Karpachova regarding her participation in the Parliamentary elections

18 human rights organizations are calling upon the Ombudsperson to resign from her post in connection with her participation in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections. The authors of the appeal believe that the ombudsperson may not combine political and human rights activities.  Signatures are being collected for a petition.

To the Human Rights Ombudsperson Nina Karpachova

Dear Ms. Karpachova,

We, citizens of Ukraine, are appealing to you in connection with your participation in the Parliamentary election campaign. We respect your right to be elected to Parliament. Yet we feel compelled to state the following.

The Human Rights Ombudsperson’s role is to protect the rights of every Ukrainian citizen, regardless of the political forces in the country. Only confidence in and respect for the Ombudsperson on the part of ordinary Ukrainians and state bodies can make human rights protection activities efficient. However, this confidence and respect are founded on two basic principles of ombudsperson’s activities – independence and impartiality, and the combining of  political and human rights activities would inevitably result in violation of these principles.

Your direct participation in the election campaign in the ranks of any political party would endanger these basic principles. You more than anyone else should understand that it is very important to guarantee that the institution of Ombudsperson is not associated with any political force and is not involved in the political struggle. Any doubt about impartiality and independence of the Ombudsperson will result in the undermining of this important social State institution, the authority of which you have taken so much effort to consolidate.

We call upon you in this situation to take the only decision possible, namely to step down from your post. In our opinion, such a step would demonstrate your personal respect for the authority of the institute of Ombudsperson. This act will be supported by those who regard this institution as one of the most important acquisitions of our democracy, which must not be sacrificed to the transient political events.