Foreign Ministry calls on NGOs to participate in OSCE-linked events
The Foreign Ministry does not, admittedly name specific dates.
As reported, a month ago 5 human rights organizations – UHHRU; KHPG; the Association of Ukrainian Human Rights Monitors on Law Enforcement; the Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation and the Centre for Legal and Political Reform - addressed an appeal to President Yanukovych, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister.
In it they called on Ukraine’s leaders to make access to public information, freedom of association, freedom of peaceful assembly and protection from torture priorities of Ukraine’s OSCE presidency.
In response the Foreign Minister reports that a number of measures are being prepared and that members of NGOs will be invited to take part. It states that “the Public Council attached to the Interior Ministry, together with the OSCE Project Coordinator are drawing up a project aimed at engaging institutions of civil society in carrying out the tasks and in fulfilling the OSCE aims during Ukraine’ chairmanship of the OSCE in 2013.”
It goes on to say that as part of this project they envisage the involvement of NGOs in a number of measures aimed at discussing important issues concerning three important dimensions of OSCE activities (military-political; economic-environmental and humanitarian) in order to determe ways of promoting Ukraine’s implementation of its priorties during the chairmanship.
It says that they will be grateful of the participation of UHHRU and other organizations, though do not give further details.