In Ukraine human rights activists demand that police of Transcarpathian region makes excuses before the foreigners who, as regarded by Vinnytsya law enforcement groups, were offended by the announcement at the official site of Regional Administration of Internal Affairs.
The human rights activists saw the signs of racism in appeal presented at the website.
This appeal said about the following (it was taken off the site later):
“Attention! According to complicated epidemiological situation at the territory of Transcarpathian region and risk of diseases increase supervision of HAMIA (Head Administration of Ministry of Internal Affairs) of Ukraine in Transcarpathian region appeals to population of the region with a request to inform about each fact of meeting or communication with foreign citizens, first of all immigrants from the countries of South-eastern Asia and the Nearer East. Contact phone numbers are (0312)-695-320, 695-144”.
These are the phone numbers of unit on duty in Transcarpathia police.”
Care about health, xenophobia or racism?
Such an appeal on detection of the citizens from the countries of South-eastern Asia and the Near East is explained by care about health. At first, it was stressed on health of the very comers, secondly about the health of the citizens of 5 more European countries where the migrants can travel from influenzal Transcarpathia. The human rights activists have noticed in the advertisement at police website not care, as they suppose, but signs of pursuit of people according to ethnic appliance i.e. display of xenophobia and even racism.
Coordinator of Vinnytsya Human Rights Group, Dmytro Groisman does not regard Transcarpathian case as an exception conforming this he present a new article published at the site of Luhansk Regional Police.
“Theoretically, it entails international scandal which completely contradicts international obligations of Ukraine in the sphere of human rights. I think, there were no such cases that in the year 1937 in Soviet Union. Today at official site of AMIA in Luhansk region absolutely xenophobia material was published about persons of Roma population. It says about system and not about some separate episode. In fact, xenophobia – is a trait peculiar to Ukrainian law enforcement agents today” – Dmytro Groisman was telling.
Will police make apologies?
The existence of the problem is deemed in Kyiv in Ministry of Interior Affairs, which is often manifested that policemen often mention about ethnic origin of persons as explanation of crime motives commitment not only in official talks and in the reports and other documents as well.
The assistant of Minister Yuriy Bilousov who follows the keeping of human rights in the system of MIA assures that some service instructions were elaborated in ministry which prohibits policemen to promulgate ethnical origin of detainees and even convicted persons in order not to violate the human rights and international obligations of Ukraine. One of the reasons is that mainly police has function of fight against migration.
“For the ordinary worker of police, for the ordinary sergeant who is on the street it is easier to detect illegal migrant by his face, that this person probably is not a native Ukrainian. On the other hand, it is against law because a person should not be detained according to his appearance being not like Ukrainian”, – assistant of minister said in the interview with BBC.
However, Yuriy Bilousov does not suppose that police have to make apologise for unethical behaviour as to foreigners in Transcarpathia. It is enough, the assistant of minister says, that an appeal to the citizens of the area about the comers from South-eastern Asia and the Nearer East was taken off the site of regional police administration.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ukrainian/domestic/story/2009/11/091106_flu_foreigners_im.shtml