Throughout the year, the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” acted as a regional partner of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU) in the operation of its reception office in Ternopil.
The reception office is located at the address: 46000 Ternopil, 11 Zhyvova St., office 803. Regular reception hours are every Wednesday and Friday from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. An appointment for a special consultation can be made by calling: + 380-352-25-28-60.
On 14 March 2013, a press conference was held in the premises of the Ternopil Regional Council, where the annual report of human rights organisations “Human Rights in Ukraine – 2012” was presented.
The experience of the UHHRU reception office in Ternopil was presented at the Ternopil Pre-Trial Detention Centre, where a collection of legal literature (including publications of the UHHRU, KHPG, and Donetsk “Memorial” on the topic of prisoners' rights) was donated to the detention centre's library.
On 29 August 2013, a presentation of the Reception's experience was held in the library of the Kopychyntsi Correctional Colony No. 112 of the Administration of the State Department of Ukraine for Execution of Sentences in Ternopil Region (urban-type settlement Kopychyntsi, Husiatyn district), and a collection of legal publications was handed over to the colony library.
On 27 December 2013, Olha Kushneryk took part in a court session of the Chortkiv District Court in the case of M. Sheketa (who had been in the Chortkiv Remand Prison of the Administration of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine in Ternopil Region since March 2012, whilst the bodies of pre-trial and judicial investigation had failed for almost two years to prove either his guilt or the legal grounds for keeping him in custody). Based on the results of participation in the court session and communication with M. Sheketa’s lawyer, an appeal was sent to the Ombudsman of the Verkhovna Rada on Human Rights with a proposal, within the powers granted to the Ombudsman under Art. 13 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Ombudsman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Human Rights”, to facilitate the release of M. Sheketa from custody, as well as to exercise control over the judicial review of his case.
Alongside the holding of public information events, printed publications of the UHHRU and its members were distributed in libraries, local government bodies, educational and medical institutions, and NGOs of the Ternopil region, in particular: the report of human rights organisations “Human Rights in Ukraine – 2012”, and UHHRU booklets on practical issues of human rights protection.
On 24 January, in Chortkiv, with the support of the Administration of the Buchach Eparchy of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the ENGO “Green World”, a historical conference “Through Knowledge of the Tragedy of the Holocaust to the Return of Historical Memory and Human Unity”, commemorating the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust and the 70th anniversary of those tragic events, was held.
In August, the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” initiated an open statement by the UHHRU on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Volyn Tragedy of 1943—a series of crimes against humanity committed against the civilian population of Polish nationality in the region. A draft open statement was proposed for discussion, and its final version was translated into Polish, English, and Russian (translators: Elzbieta Dylewska, Andrii Oleniuk, and Oleksandr Stepanenko).
In December, the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” assisted in holding events of the Docudays UA Travelling International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in Chortkiv.
The memoirs of Lola Rein Kaufman “The Hidden Girl: A True Story of the Holocaust” were translated and printed (translator – Anton Stepanenko).
Olha Kushneryk represented the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” at the general meeting of the UHHRU in September 2013, and Oleksandr Stepanenko in December.
No financial activity of the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” was carried out during the year.