The Party of Regions, which effectively rules the parliament, is once again pushing for one of their own, Nina Karpacheva, to be re-elected. She has been in this job since 1998.
While she has commendably called attention to some flagrant human rights abuses, her performance has not been stellar, due to her political allegiances or other factors.
We think it’s time for her to be replaced by a better candidate, Yevhen Zakharov, whose candidacy is being put forward by the Kharkiv Group for Human Rights, a vocal and effective human rights group.
Zakharov’s story is a striking contrast to that of Karpacheva, whose career started in the Communist Party. He once said that 14 members of his family were persecuted for political reasons. Back in the Soviet days, he was sympathetic toward dissidents, “samizdat” – self-publishing – and the rights of the abused.
Zakharov also has a strong record in the field since 1989, when he became co-chairman of Memorial, a human rights group in Kharkiv. He has been chief editor of Human Rights weekly for years and is a respected commentator.
Five years ago, his candidacy was proposed as a potential replacement for Karpacheva. But despite the support of 300 human rights groups, he did not win.
Zakharov has never been a member of any party. He has said that the job of the ombudsman is the only government position he would ever accept. He previously talked about his plans of strengthening the role by developing a network of its regional representatives.
A big problem with the position is that it holds no real investigative or enforcement powers. It merely provides an official, public platform. This must change, otherwise the ombudsman’s recommendations are too easy to ignore – as they are now.
Well-mannered and humble, Zakharov and members of various organizations he helped to create have helped hundreds of people. We believe he would make an ideal ombudsman.
