Today, on 18 March, according to the agenda of the plenary session, the annual report of the Human Rights Ombudsman on the Donetsk People’s Republic Daria Morozova was heard by the parliamentarians.
At the beginning of her speech, the DPR Ombudsman stated that the Ombudsman received about 5,000 appeals in 2020.
“The leading position is still occupied by social, humanitarian and economic issues,” noted Daria Morozova.
The Ombudsman explained in detail the activities aimed at assisting in solving the social problems of internally displaced persons.
“During the cooperation with international humanitarian organizations, in 2020, 7,286 humanitarian kits were provided to the families of citizens affected by the armed conflict. Targeted humanitarian aid to disabled people of I and II groups was regularly carried out. Considerable work was carried out for the resettlement of the affected citizens. As of 1 December 2020, 6,801 people affected by the armed conflict lived in the territory of the Republic. Of the total number of affected citizens, 2,301 people are accommodated in 55 social facilities,” said Daria Morozova.
Also, the Ombudsman stressed that thanks to the Ombudsman’s initiative and comprehensive work of the Interim Commission of the People’s Council for the control and coordination of activities in the areas most affected by the armed conflict of Ukraine, the People’s Council Committee in Social and Housing Policy, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the DPR Law “On Forced Migrants” was adopted. Its adoption made it possible to establish social and legal guarantees for the protection of the rights and legitimate interests of internally displaced persons.
The Ombudsman paid special attention to the results of the work on the registration of the dead and wounded during the armed conflict.
“It is important to note that in 2020 the lowest death toll was recorded as a result of the armed conflict since its beginning. Losses have decreased 50 times compared to 2014, which convincingly indicates the importance and further need for diplomatic and negotiation work.
Since the beginning of the conflict and as of 1 December 2020, 4,959 people, including 90 children, have died as a result of hostilities in the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Over 7,800 people sustained injuries of varying severity as a result of shelling by Ukraine during the specified period.
Also, work was actively carried out to search for missing people. As of 1 December 2020, there were 362 people on the corresponding list,” stated the Ombudsman.
In addition, Daria Morozova dwelled on the results of the activities of the working group on humanitarian issues of the Contact Group on the settlement the situation in Donbass.
“Thus, on 16 April 2020, the long-awaited exchange of detainees was held, as a result of which the Donetsk People’s Republic returned 10 of its supporters and 9 people were handed over to the Ukrainian side. This exchange became possible only because of the guarantee by the opposing side to implement the “procedural cleansing” of the persons transferred to the Donetsk People’s Republic. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian side has not fulfilled its obligations yet. Thus, contrary to all the agreements, Kiev continues to prosecute 50 actually released citizens, thereby blocking the possibility of new exchanges.
It is also should be emphasized that 2020 has become, perhaps, the most crisis year for the entire period of the work of the humanitarian subgroup,” the Ombudsman noted.
In her report, the Human Rights Ombudsman summed up the outcomes of activities on the ensuring the observance of the citizens’ rights and freedoms in the administration of justice, as well as guarantees of state protection of the children’s rights and freedoms in the territory of the DPR.
“Based on the results of the work done in the field of protection and restoration of violated rights and freedoms over the past year, we can safely speak of a positive trend in the development of human rights institutions on the Republic,” summarized Daria Morozova.
More information on the web-site of the DPR People’s Council