It is important for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to have constant contact and exchange of information with civil society institutions and human rights organizations
On December 4, the Ministry of Internal Affairs held the first meeting within the framework of the communication platform for the interaction of law enforcement agencies with civil society institutions and human rights organizations. The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Kateryna Pavlichenko.
Cooperation in this format was initiated to implement the government plan of measures for the implementation by 2024 of the National Strategy for the Promotion of Civil Society Development in Ukraine for 2021-2026. According to Kateryna Pavlichenko, the purpose of the site is the exchange of information and discussion of problematic issues of ensuring the safety of the activities of representatives of civil society institutions. The State Sector within the site is represented by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police and the Office of the Prosecutor General.
“I am convinced that such a platform will strengthen cooperation between law enforcement agencies and the public. Today, Ukrainian civil society demonstrates remarkable self-organization in the process of solving acute social problems, primarily due to a full-scale invasion. Therefore, we rely on the constructiveness of our partners while working within this platform to conduct a meaningful dialogue. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Police, for their part, are ready to exchange information, which will facilitate the activities of civil society institutions,” the deputy head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs noted.
During the discussion, it was about the activities of law enforcement officers and the position of civil society during the war. The parties updated the key areas for the exchange of information. Among these issues for interaction were identified, in particular, criminal proceedings in cases concerning missing representatives of civil society, civilian hostages, cybercrimes against activists.
The pilot meeting was attended by a representative of the Office of the Prosecutor General, specialists of units of the National Police, including the Main Investigation Department, the Department of Main Inspection and Human Rights, the Department of Criminal Investigation, the Department of Cyberpolice, the Department of Communication. Representatives of units of the apparatus of the Ministry of Internal Affairs — the Department of Communication, the Department of Interaction with the National Police, the Office for Monitoring Human Rights Observance also joined.
The public sector was represented by the Human Rights Information Center (ZMINA), the Center for Democracy and the Rule of Law, and the Ukrainian Independent Center for Political Studies.
According to Lyudmila Yankina, Head of the Department at the Human Rights Information Center (ZMINA), human rights organizations, civil society institutions need interaction with law enforcement agencies to exchange information on a number of tracks, because without this, effective protection of civil society is impossible.
As a result of the meeting, an optimal mechanism for the exchange of information on the outlined issues will be built.
Department of Communications of the Ministry of Internal Affairs
