The “Equal Opportunities” Committee announces plans to make 2008 a year of monitoring of commissioned news items in the media, the authorities’ level of transparency, the coverage by the media of constitutional reform and more

The Cabinet of Ministers has removed the illegal stamps restricting access from its own acts issued between 1991 and 2005. The stamps involved “Not to be printed” and “Not to be published” are quite simply not envisaged by Ukrainian legislation and had no right to exist

Despite cheering results in January, the initiative “We’re not for sale!” is not letting up on its scrutiny of television channels

On Roman Shukhevych, how history was rewritten and on one more legacy of Soviet justice – your children and your children’s children shall suffer for the crimes your fathers never committed

The Director of the Yad Vashem Archive Department Chaim Gertner confirmed that there was no dossier on Shukhevych in the archives. He said that Josef Lapid who had claimed there was such a file was not an employee of the archives

The Ministry of Justice has again announced plans to remove the stamps “Not to be printed” and “Not to be published” from Cabinet of Ministers Resolutions and Instructions. Since we first reported this admirable intention, in January, a draft Cabinet of Ministers Instruction has been drawn up

“This sharp decrease in the number of concealed ads which are presented in the guise of news items is a very cheering event for all viewers. We congratulate all our colleagues on this achievement since it’s firstly their victory, a victory for the sake of protecting the standards of the profession”

According to Article 19, Ukraine, the site of the worst environmental disaster in recent history, is still failing to protect the right of its citizens to access environmental information

Monitoring the work of the present Ombudsperson and her Secretariat is no easy matter: they remain extraordinarily secretive. There are however some glimmers of hope as far as long overdue work on national preventive mechanisms against torture and regional representatives are concerned

Prominent environmental and human rights activists have put their signatures to a letter addressed to Ukraine’s leaders. In it they give a scathing assessment of Ukraine’s adherence to the Aarhus Convention and make a number of urgent recommendations for action.

The Cabinet of Ministers is planning to remove the stamps “Not to be printed” and “Not to be published” from Cabinet of Ministers Resolutions and Instructions issued between 1991 and 2005 since these stamps are not allowed for by Ukrainian legislation

A nationwide monitoring project “Right of access to environmental information” has found little to say that’s possible about the situation in Ukraine

While there can be various motives for such criminal actions, the recent attacks on sites with no financial interests (i.e. Maidan and ourselves, HRO.org in Russia and others) force us to follow any attacks which effectively block the flow of information very closely

The cyber attacks on Internet resources which the authorities find “inconvenient” are continuing. Hackers today destroyed the site of the information agency Caucasus Times. The agency’s material covered human rights abuse in the Northern Caucuses

We have decided to create an SOS lifeline. If there are some who just won’t understand that freedom must not be crushed, let’s give them one clear message. You will not stifle freedom of speech and don’t bother trying

The initiative “We’re not for sale!” has named the company which ordered the most news and the television channel which sold the most

Our voices will continue to sound the alarm when human rights are being violated, but if we cannot hope for a receptive ear and help in passing on information, we will be almost powerless.

Please forgive us if there is not much news on this site. Priority at present must be ensuring that people are aware of what is happening. You can help enormously by passing the material concerning this DDOS attack to as many other organizations, media outlets, etc as possible

It is possible that those who ordered the attack on human rights sites found humour in aiming it at Human Rights Day. In fact, however, the event commemorated, the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, serves as a perfect reminder of all that would be at risk if we give in to such attempts to stifle and intimidate us. It reminds us also that we need to stand together on this – we have no plans to surrender.

It believes that by changing the procedure for gaining court orders for different forms of interception of communications and investigative operations, human rights and constitutional norms are being placed in jeopardy