On 16 August 2024, 52 participants from different regions of Ukraine took part in the launch of the HELP course "Human Rights in the Armed Forces" in a hybrid format. The training will last 2,5 months and has been organised by the Council of Europe Project "HELP (Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals) for Ukraine, including during wartime" in the partnership with the High School of Public Governance and with the involvement of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. The training was held within the Summer School of Coaching Excellence for the public servants.
The participants of the course included public servants involved in the protection of the rights of military personnel, in particular employees of the Central Department for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Ombudsperson`s Office, as well as regional military state administrations.
Taras Bezpalyi, Deputy Head of the Central Department for the Protection of the Rights of the Military Personnel of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, presented the goals and objectives of his department, its remit and mechanisms for processing complaints, the main types of violations that will be addressed and the types of the legal assistance.
The HELP course "Human Rights in the Armed Forces" has been adapted to the Ukrainian legal system and context and will be delivered by the HELP tutors Valentyna Malinovska, Judge of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv, and Viktoriia Polishchuk, lawyer, mediator, Chair of the UNBA Labor Law Committee, Head of the Center for Labor Law and Social Security of the UNBA School of Labor Law.
Members of the armed forces enjoy the same human rights and fundamental freedoms as any other person in a society, as any other citizen. These are the same rights and freedoms enshrined in the various international, national and regional sources of human rights law.
The course “Human Rights in the Armed Forces” covers the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on the right to life, the prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, the prohibition of forced labour and the prohibition of slavery under Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the ECHR respectively. It also covers issues related to special statuses in the armed forces and the gender component.
The adapted HELP course "Human Rights in the Armed Forces" covers the basic concepts of human dignity in the armed forces, equality and non-discrimination, helps to systematize knowledge of the legal framework related to human rights and fundamental freedoms in the armed forces, provides an understanding of the economic and social rights of people in the armed forces, helps to better understand the administration of justice in such disputes, and provides an understanding of inspections and/or effective investigations.
The participants got acquainted with the experience in the field of protection of the rights of military personnel of the human rights organisation "Pryncyp". Human rights activist Lyubov Halan and lawyer Massi Nayem presented a legal navigator for the military, veterans and their families, which has 156 thousand users.
The self-learning HELP course "Human Rights in the Armed Forces" is available on the Council of Europe HELP Platform via link. To access the courses, one needs to register and create an account (registration).
11 HELP courses were launched within the HELP Project, and 600 participants took part including judges, prosecutors, lawyers and public servants.
