NGOs call for the draft law ‘On Recording Persons Whose Life and Health Have Been Harmed Due To Armed Aggression of Russian Federation Against Ukraine’ to be improved.
In November 2023, the Government registered the draft law “On Recording Persons Whose Life and Health Have Been Harmed Due To Armed Aggression of Russian Federation Against Ukraine” (No. 10256). The authors note that the purpose of the document is to create the State Register of persons harmed due to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
The register shall contain data on citizens of Ukraine whose lives and health were harmed due to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The Register shall also account expenses for aid to the victims, and various state bodies will be able to exchange data on documenting damage to life and health of citizens as a result of aggression.
The register shall become a consolidated source of information about the damage caused to Ukrainians, starting from February 19, 2014. These data can later be used as an evidentiary basis in claims to international judicial bodies regarding reparations or other charges from the aggressor state as compensation for damages caused.
We support the idea of accounting for non-property damage caused by armed aggression against Ukraine starting from February 19, 2014. At the same time, there are issues of concern in the proposed draft law, which are pivotal for making a decision regarding its further support.
Here are just the key ones:
It is not clear how the purpose of the draft law stated by the authors is consistent with the process of creating Register of damage for Ukraine caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine at the level of the Council of Europe that is the first step towards an international compensation mechanism. Is the Government’s proposed Registry of Victims created to assist in receiving compensation within the framework of the international compensation mechanism created at the Council of Europe. If not, the purpose of recording victims is questionable since such recording cannot be an end in itself. We are convinced that just collecting data on damage to victims will provoke their excessive expectations about compensation for it, and as a result – cause disappointment. The reason is obvious: this damage can’t be fully compensated via international mechanisms (that the victims are likely to address directly or should address), and no such compensations have been introduced at the national level.
The draft law proposes to create a Register of Victims without any mention of the fact that as of the end of 2023, a number of records (registers) that contain information about specific groups of victims are already available.
The list of cases when harm to life and health occurs is very long, that raises reasonable doubts whether they could be properly recorded and then compensated. It is not clear how the applicant should prove the fact of being harmed in certain cases, for example, physical suffering, emotional stress, discomfort, or other violations of personal non-property rights, that ensure the inborn existence of individuum or international human rights and international humanitarian law.
Recording harm to life and health caused by war crimes in the Register of victims is not consistent with the GoU’s position on creating a dedicated Register of war crime victims and affected that is publicly communicated by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The proposal to designate the Pension Fund of Ukraine as the Register of Victims owner appears doubtful and insufficiently substantiated. The Pension Fund shall not use the funds of mandatory public pension insurance and mandatory public social insurance for purposes unrelated to the activities specified in Article 58 of Law of Ukraine “On Mandatory Public Pension Insurance”.
We call to send the draft law “On Recording Persons Whose Life and Health Have Been Harmed Due To Armed Aggression of Russian Federation Against Ukraine” (No.10256) for improvement.
A comprehensive vision of not only accounting the non-property damage (harm to life and health) caused by the armed aggression against Ukraine but also of further governmental steps aimed at compensating this damage based on Victim-Centered Approach, given the registers of different victim categories available already in the country, should be developed.
ZMINA Center for Human Rights
KrymSOS NGO
DonbasSOS NGO
Stabilization Support Services CF
“Civil Holding “GROUP OF INFLUENCE” NGO
“Right to Protection” CF
EAST SOS CF
Crimean Human Rights Group
