“On the way to respect human rights standards, the police show high efficiency,” — Head of the Council of Europe Office Machi Yanchak in Lutsk
The Volyn police held a round table, the main topic of which was the prospects for the implementation of the Custody Records system in police units.
The discussion was also attended by the representative of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights in the system of security and defense sector bodies Oleksandr Kononenko, the representative of the Government Commissioner for the European Court of Human Rights of the Ministry of Justice Tetiana Yashchukevych, the representative of the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada from human rights in Volyn Yulia Spas, representative of the Western Interregional Center for the Provision of Free Legal Aid Natalia Kukurik, Chairman of the Volyn Regional Council Grigory Nedopad, Deputy Head of Volyn OVA Myroslava Yakymchuk, head of the regional prosecutor's office Viktor Tymchuk, representatives of the judicial system, police officers.
The manager of the Council of Europe project “Strengthening law enforcement during the war and in the postwar period” Elena Lungol noted that any information on the effectiveness of the Custody Records system is important, so the exchange of experience and suggestions is very valuable.
Deputy Head of the National Police of Ukraine Hennadiy Fedoriuk stressed that there are a number of challenges facing police officers who work with offenders and criminals on a daily basis.
“The Custody Records system protects police officers, but at the same time prevents them from breaking the law. Now complaints about the actions of the police have decreased significantly, moreover, people leave gratitude for their work. We see that all actions in the unit are continuously recorded by surveillance cameras. So we hope that with the support of international partners and communities we will implement this project in the future,” said Hennadiy Fedoriuk.
The Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine Machi Yanchak thanked police officers for their selfless cooperation towards human rights standards and eradication of torture and ill-treatment in the law enforcement system.
“Despite the fact that Ukraine is going through the third year of a full-scale invasion war by the Russian Federation, hard work has been done in this area. I am still impressed by what I saw in the police unit in Lutsk, and this is really unique,” said Machi Yanchak.
According to him, police officers should constantly improve their knowledge of human rights legislation and implement it in practice.
“Today we had the opportunity to make sure that many of these good practices and guarantees are already in the law enforcement system of Ukraine. There is still a long way to go, because the Custody Records system needs to cover all units, in the conditions of war this is especially difficult. I express my gratitude to the National Police of Ukraine, its Department of the Main Inspectorate and Human Rights for a strong and effective partnership, which I am sure will be successful. I am grateful to the representatives of the police, state institutions and local authorities here in Lutsk for their warm welcome, representatives of the Office of the Ombudsman and the Commissioner for joining us in our discussions. Let us continue our work together to further support human rights and the rule of law in these very difficult but at the same time very decisive times,” said Machi Yanchak.
Head of the Department of the Main Inspection and Human Rights Compliance of the National Police of Ukraine Ruslan Goryachenko presented the Custody Records system and told who the human rights inspectors are.
“Today, 163 human rights inspectors work in 95 units where this system operates. They are constantly improving, sharing experience with others, participating in trainings organized by the Council of Europe. Their task is to work with people as much as possible in order to increase trust in the police,” Ruslan Goryachenko said.
The head of the GUNP in the Volyn region Yuriy Kroshko thanked the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine and all those present for their support and stressed that the police officers of Volyn have long demonstrated readiness for changes. “People who work are important, so we train and develop them ourselves.
The police are now updated, approaches to work have changed, the Custody Records system, which operates in eight units, makes it possible to establish the truth, quickly and quickly check information. We are working in this direction further,” said Yuriy Kroshko.
During the visit, the representatives of the Council of Europe were also shown how the situation center of the GUNP and the duty police department work.
National Police of Ukraine
