You're reading: Yanukovych: Need for introduction of biometric passports is obvious

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has said that the introduction of biometric passports is necessary for Ukraine, although there are many controversial points around the issue. 

“Controversy around this law, and the fact that people believe that something will be sewn up in human body and so on – all this is totally unfounded, no one ever proposed to do this and no one will ever do it,” Yanukovych said at a meeting with the clergy and religious organizations in Kyiv on Wednesday.

The president said that he respects proposals on the issue made by heads of religious organizations.

According to Yanukovych, the introduction of such passports is also connected with the security of citizens on the territory of the countries that are facing the threat of terrorism.

As reported, on October 2, 2012 the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, passed a bill on the introduction of biometric passports in Ukraine.

The document foresees the introduction of electronic passports containing electronic chips with biometric information for traveling abroad, according to standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

According to the bill, the passports of Ukrainian citizens will be produced in the form of cards with contactless smart chips and issued no later than 30 calendar days from the date of the submission of a relevant application.

The electronic passports will include the name of the state, the name of the document, the full name of the holder, the holder’s gender, citizenship, date of birth, and a unique number in the register, the number of the document, the date of the document’s expiry, the date of issue of the document, the name of the agency that issued the document, the place of birth, a photo and the signature of the holder.

The information about parents or trustee of the holder may be included to the document upon a relevant written request.

On October 15, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Valeriya Lutkovska called on the president to veto the bill on the introduction of biometric passports and return it to parliament for revision by experts.

According to Lutkovska, the approved wording of the bill “does not comply with the Constitution of Ukraine and European standards in the sphere of personal data protection, and might infringe on human rights and freedom.”

The ombudsman also stressed in her letter to the president that the amendments to the document that were proposed by experts from the Council of Europe, Ukrainian experts and public organizations in August-September 2012 were not included in the final wording of the bill.