On 28 October, the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights participated in the International Conference on Training and Education on Human Rights of Members of the Armed Forces, held in Paris and organised by the Council of Europe within the framework of the project “Rights of Veterans and Personnel of Armed Forces in Ukraine”.
The conference brought together representatives of Ukrainian state institutions, military education and training establishments, human rights bodies, international organisations and 20 Council of Europe member states to exchange experiences and good practices in human rights education and training for members of the armed forces.
In her opening remarks, Clare Ovey, Director of Human Rights at the Council of Europe, emphasised that members of the armed forces remain “citizens in uniform” and that military service, while entailing particular duties and certain lawful restrictions, does not entail the relinquishment of fundamental rights and freedoms. Although the conference stemmed from the Council of Europe’s cooperation with Ukraine, Clare Ovey noted that the challenges discussed are shared by armed forces across Europe.
The Department intervened in the panel on awareness of human rights standards, presenting the awareness-raising and general measures required under the Sergey Shevchenko group of cases which concerns non-combat deaths of military personnel and the lack of effective investigations into those deaths by the competent national authorities.
The participants agreed that human rights education should be integrated throughout the full continuum of military service to protect the rights of service personnel, support veterans’ transition to civilian life and strengthen the overall effectiveness of the armed forces.
The conference also provided a valuable opportunity for the Department to engage with key Ukrainian stakeholders, including the Military Ombudsperson, Olha Reshetylova, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Vilatiy Kim, the Deputy Minister of Defence, Liubov Halan, and representatives of leading military education and training institutions, such as the National Police Academy of Ukraine, the Military Institute of the Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University and the Military Institute of the Kharkiv Law Academy.
