On 2 October public hearings on human rights in the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were held in Kyiv. They were attended by the Minister of Internal Affairs who acknowledged that rights violations by MIA officers remain a serious problem for the Ministry.

On Friday, 2 October public hearings on observance of human rights in the work of the Ministry of Internal Affairs [MIA] were held in Kyiv. They were attended by the Minister of Internal Affairs Yury Lutsenko who said in his opening address that rights violations by MIA officers remain a serious problem for the Ministry.

Not one law enforcement officer was convicted of torture last year despite the fact that even the Prosecutor General is aware of cases of torture. The reason for such impunity is considered to be flaws in the entire judicial and law enforcement systems

Nine officers of the Chernihiv Regional Department for Fighting Organized Crime [UBOZ] are charged with exceeding their powers and using unlawful methods of criminal investigation

The Prosecutor even uses the word “torture” in this case where police officers are suspected of having tortured suspects to extract evidence yet the charge is of exceeding authority with the use of violence

The preliminary opinion of the Venice Commission on the draft law on the Office of the Public Prosecutor has been made public and makes no pleasant reading

Amid this political ping-pong, unfortunately other issues and doubts as to whether the MIA has the skill and will to cope with non-law enforcement aspects of immigration get forgotten

Criminal charges of inflicting medium severity injuries on a person who had been detained for an administrative offence have been submitted to the court

On International Day in support of Victims of Torture 2009, improvements can be noted, yet the problems remain systemic and need greater and more united efforts

In response to criticism from odd quarters, Denis Kobzin and Andriy Chernoysov clarify some fundamental misunderstandings and provide valuable information about the work of the mobile groups working within the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Nine officers of the Chernihiv Regional Department for Fighting Organized Crime are accused on exceeding their powers

Human Rights Aide to the Head of the MIA for the Cherkasy region, Volodomyr Batchaev speaks about cooperation between the police and the public, about law enforcement officers “sins” and about prejudice in society towards the Roma

The mobile group created in Kherson includes representatives of both the law enforcement bodies and human rights organizations, and has been regularly going out to police stations since 2008

As one of the root causes of problems it names the powers enjoyed by the Prosecutor General’s office which is responsible not only for criminal prosecutions, but also for overseeing observance of the law by enforcement bodies

The Head of the Poltava “Solidarity” Trade Union and of the Civic Centre “Solidarity against corruption”, Valentina Voloshina was awarded damages for defamatory material

10 officers of the Chernihiv Regional Department for Fighting Organized Crime [UBOZ] are facing criminal proceedings over the death of a detainee

If with his visa initiatives, the Minister of Internal Affairs wanted to convince Ukrainian nationals and others that his department is ready to maintain law and order and can worthily fulfil the new role it is to take on, I rather fear he miscalculated.

While changes in migration policy are long overdue, the author expresses grave doubts over the wisdom of placing this vital area under Ministry of Internal Affairs control

No conclusions should be drawn without full police investigation which is now underway. On the other hand, the statement that the police still have no idea who commented this terrible crime yet are adamant it wasn’t skinheads raises more questions than it answers

Viacheslav Likhachev from the Congress of National Communities believes that placing control over this area under the MIA will inevitably lead to its boiling down to a “fight against illegal migration”.