You're reading: Ombudsman backs Russian, Ukrainian rights activists’ initiative on joint monitoring in Donbas

Ukrainian parliamentary human rights ombudsman Valeriya Lutkovska backs the initiative of Russian and Ukrainian human rights activists regarding a monitoring visit to the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the ombudsman said on her website on Wednesday. 

“I fully back this initiative and I believe it is expedient to invite representatives of international organizations and human rights activists, both from Ukraine and Russia, to take part in this monitoring and mediation,” Lutkovska said, commenting on the address issued by Ukrainian and Russia human rights activists to the two countries’ ombudsmen and the chairman of the Russian presidential council on civil society development and human rights.

Lutkovska said this idea was discussed in her office during working meetings with representatives of field missions of human rights activists and public initiatives working on the rights of temporarily displaced persons and people living on temporarily occupied and dangerous territories.

“Everything stated in the address was discussed more than once in coordination sessions with human rights activists and is fully in line with the position of our office. I hope my Russian colleagues will also agree with the motives part of the address and back the human rights activists’ initiative,” she said.

Earlier on Wednesday, a group of Russian and Ukrainian human rights activists issued an address to Mikhail Fedotov, the head of the Russian presidential human rights council, Russian human rights ombudsman Ella Pamfilova, and her Ukrainian counterpart Valeriya Lutkovska calling for the creation of a joint mission to monitor the situation in the southeastern regions of Ukraine.

Fedotov said this idea was worthy of attention.

“The more opportunities for human rights activists’ work, the better,” Fedotov told Interfax on Wednesday.

Fedotov said this initiative was addressed by the human rights council presidium in Moscow on Wednesday.

“Because this address is addressed to third persons, the three of us should reach an agreement on a unified stance on this issue,” he said.