European Human Rights Court judges think next year will be for them the year of Ukraine. Verkhovna Rada human rights ombudsman Nina Karpachova said August 21 at the UN-sponsored Human Rights for Human Development seminar that to date the court had received about 800 grievances from Ukrainian citizens.
Even though Ukraine has joined the European Human Rights Convention, the text of the document has still not been officially published. For this reason, the Convention is not in effect here. Ukraine has also ratified other international acts on human rights, however, there is hardly any adherence to them to speak of in a situation where millions of citizens are deprived even of their fundamental right to live.
In her statement for The Day, Karpachova said she considers chronic wage and pension payment delays not only a brutal violation of human rights but also a threat to Ukraine’s national security. “When asked if I consider government actions a violation of human rights, I respond with the question ‘And don’t you think it’s an act of genocide not to pay wages and pensions?”’
According to Ukrainian law, individuals guilty of wage and pension nonpayment can be sued and taken to court. This is the reason why Korpachova thinks Parliament should urgently ratify the European Social Charter outlining the mechanism for protecting social and economic rights.






