Throughout the year, the activity of the reception office of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU) in Ternopil was supported jointly with the ENGO “Green World”.
The reception office is located at the address: 46000 Ternopil, 11 Zhyvova St., office 803. The regional coordinator of the reception office is Oleksandr Mykhailovych Stepanenko, Chairman of the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” and member of the UHHRU Board. Reception consultants: Oleksandr Mykhailovych Stepanenko and Olga Yevhenivna Kushneryk.
In 2011, … applicants appealed to the reception office. 12 field receptions were conducted for citizens: in the town of Kozova, the village of Yarchivtsi (Zboriv District), the town of Lanivtsi, the village of Pylypche (Borshchiv District), the village of Bilche-Zolote (Borshchiv District), the town of Borshchiv, the village of Polivtsi (Chortkiv District), the village of Bychkivtsi (Chortkiv District), the village of Trybukhivtsi (Buchach District), the village of Vyhoda (Borshchiv District), and in Zeblozy (Kremenets District).
Throughout the year, 12 public information events were held: public meetings, press conferences for the media, lectures, round tables, etc. In particular, the following were conducted:
* a public meeting in the village of Krasnosiltsi, Zbarazh District, regarding the illegal detention of members of the All-Ukrainian Organisation “Tryzub”;
* press conferences “Human rights in Ukraine: old problems and new threats” in Chortkiv and Ternopil;
* a round table “On the crimes of Stalinism – in the language of facts” at the Chortkiv Central District Library;
* a public meeting in the village of Horodnytsia, Husiatyn District;
* an assembly of residents of the village of Pylypche, Borshchiv District, on the issue of compliance with environmental safety standards during the development of a gypsum deposit on the village territory;
a public meeting in the village of Halushchyntsi, Pidvolochysk District;
* a theoretical conference on the study of the Holocaust events in Chortkiv (commemorating the 70th anniversary of the destruction of the Chortkiv ghetto).
Furthermore, the ENGO “Green World” and the “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” acted as representatives of the Travelling Festival “Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Days” in 4 districts of the southern Ternopil Region in 2011. The presentation of festival films, printed publications, and UHHRU activities took place in educational and cultural institutions in the towns of Chortkiv, Zalishchyky, Buchach, the village of Bilche-Zolote in the Borshchiv District, as well as in the Ternopil Regional Pre-trial Detention Centre.
Information about the work of the reception office is disseminated through publications in the media and during field receptions.
During the reporting period, publications regarding the work of the public reception office, materials of a consultative and educational nature, as well as comments on specific cases, were published in the newspapers “Svoboda” (Ternopil), “Nomer 1” (Ternopil), “20 Khvylyn” (Ternopil), “Holos Narodu” (Chortkiv), “Chortkivskyi Visnyk” (Chortkiv), the magazine “Zolota Pektoral” (Chortkiv), and in the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group’s information bulletin “Human Rights”.
On 16 June, representatives of the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” took part in the Fifth Forum of Human Rights Organisations in Kyiv and in drafting the text of the human rights defenders' manifesto “The Public Against Lawlessness”.
In addition, Oleksandr Stepanenko participated in writing a section of the analytical report by human rights defenders, “Human Rights in Ukraine – 2011”.
From 12 to 17 September, the consultant of the UHHRU reception office, Olga Kushneryk, participated in a study tour to Geneva for a group of representatives of civil society organisations engaged in human rights activities, within the framework of the UNDP Project “Civil Society Development”.
A volunteer of the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” participated in the youth school of the educational programme “Understanding Human Rights”.
On 16 June, representatives of the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” took part in the Fifth Forum of Human Rights Organisations in Kyiv and in drafting the text of the human rights defenders' manifesto “The Public Against Lawlessness”.
In addition, Oleksandr Stepanenko participated in writing a section of the analytical report by human rights defenders, “Human Rights in Ukraine – 2011”.
From 12 to 17 September, the consultant of the UHHRU reception office, Olga Kushneryk, participated in a study tour to Geneva for a group of representatives of civil society organisations engaged in human rights activities, within the framework of the UNDP Project “Civil Society Development”.
A volunteer of the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” participated in the youth school of the educational programme “Understanding Human Rights”.
NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” http://21.helsinki.org.ua/
Information on the work of the public reception office is available on the UHHRU website in the “Union Members” section http://www.helsinki.org.ua/index.php?id=1213178050
Financial operations of the NGO “Helsinki Initiative – XXI” were not conducted during 2011.