The Project is a part of the continuous endeavour of the Council of Europe (CoE) to support Ukraine in effective implementation of the European human rights standards with a specific focus on combatting ill-treatment and rehabilitation of victims of torture, the important areas that are placed under the mandate of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights and other Project beneficiaries (“the Ombudsperson”).

The current project is built on the results achieved within the framework of the Joint EU/CoE Project “European Union and Council of Europe working together to strengthen the Ombudsperson capacity to protect human rights” implemented in 2019-2022. To ensure sustainability of the results, a specific follow up is needed, in particular on combatting torture, provision of support to the national authorities in creation of the rehabilitation mechanism for victims of torture including the psychiatric institutions’ reform as well as modernisation of the data protection legislation and its further implementation at the national level. The Project, among others will further contribute to the education of public servants, legal professionals and awareness raising among the general public on human rights protection.

Considering the on-going military aggression by Russia against Ukraine the Project’s intervention follows the priority areas as defined by the Ukrainian authorities in this context. This includes the establishment of the rehabilitation mechanism for the victims of ill-treatment, as well as enhancing the capacity of the Ombudsperson’s Office to respond to challenges related to reporting of gross human rights violations as well as the modernisation of the data protection legislation considering the recent EU Commission decision on Ukraine’s application for membership of the European Union

• Alignment of the national policy, legal framework and practice related to combating ill-treatment with the international and European standards which include: amendment of the legislative framework, awareness raising of the national authorities on the international standards and approaches applied in countering ill-treatment, development and provision with the relevant tools available to act on its implementation with a specific focus on supporting the NPM, creation of a rehabilitation mechanism for victims of torture and prevention of ill-treatment in the psychiatric institutions;
• Harmonisation of data protection policy, legal framework and practice with the European standards and the modernised Convention or the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data (Convention 108; Convention 108+) through alignment of relevant national policy, legislations, regulations and practices on data protection in line with CoE standards and best practices in the area; and strengthening capacity of the data protection stakeholders including the Ombudsperson Office to implement the modernised data protection legislation.
• Awareness raising among the national authorities, legal professionals and public on human rights standards with a special focus on prevention of ill-treatment and rehabilitation of the victims of ill-treatment.
• Strengthening the Ombudsperson’s Office-institutional support will be provided to improve the Office’s legal framework and to help them put in place policy documents; staff capacity building activities will be planned to enhance the office’s efficiency in handling grave human rights violations, including the ones reported in the context of the military aggression.

• Verkhovna Rada/Parliament of Ukraine
• Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights
• Supreme Court of Ukraine
• Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine
• Ministry of Justice of Ukraine
• Ministry of Interior Affaires of Ukraine
• Ministry of Health of Ukraine
• National professional training institutions and universities