Russian-speaking Ukraine

Russian-Speaking Ukraine
Founded	March 1, 2008
Type	NGO
Focus	Protecting human rights and freedoms of Russian-speaking citizens & minority populations in Ukraine
Location	Kyiv, Ukraine;
Area served	Ukraine
Key people	Vadym Kolesnichenko (chairman), Ruslan Bortnik
Website	r-u.org.ua

The All-Ukrainian Non-government Organization “Human Rights Public Movement “Russian-speaking Ukraine” (Russian: Всеукраинская общественная организация «Правозащитное общественное движение «Русскоязычная Украина») was founded on March 1, 2008 in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region during the II All-Ukrainian congress of deputies of all-level councils, and was registered on August 10, 2009 by the Ministry of Justice (Kyiv).

Statutory mission

Protection of the rights and freedoms of Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine and minority population through the preservation and further development of Russian language and culture, languages and cultures of national minorities; protection of the canonical Orthodox Church, religions and beliefs of native population of Ukraine, as well as their cultural, information and social environment.

Supervisory Board

Vadym Kolesnichenko, The Chairman of Council^[1]

Members:

Ruslan Bortnik
Vladimir Kornilov
Vyacheslav Potapov
Valeriy Golenko
Sergey Provatorov
Arkady Monastyrsky
Vladimir Pashkov
Sergey Tsekov
Oleg Tsarev
Vladimir Alekseev
Kanafia Khusnutdinov
Aleksandr Prokopenko
Valentin Chernov
Mikhail Kirillov^[2]

Major activities

Ensuring the implementation, protection and strengthening of constitutional and internationally recognized human rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine and minority population; confirming these rights to be inviolable and inalienable;
Securing Russian language to receive status of the state language relevant to its role and importance in Ukrainian society;
Promoting the concept of shared history of Slavic nations, aimed at integrating Eastern European nations;
Contributing the formation of administrative division of Ukraine, considering the interests of local communities, historic and cultural features of Ukraine regions and following the principles of federalism;
Providing support to local self-governance structure development that renders favorable conditions to enable authorities answer social needs and interests of local communities;
Monitoring the implementation of international human rights obligations in Ukraine;
Fighting against racism, xenophobia and discrimination incidents in Ukraine;
Countering the propaganda and rehabilitation of fascism and Nazism in Ukraine, as well as actions aimed at the rehabilitation, the exaltation, the social legitimization of individuals and organizations that participated in World War II on the side of Germany and its allies; excluding the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal resolutions to be revised or/and discredited;
Providing necessary support for human rights education, involving citizen in publishing and distributing materials, documents, leaflets, posters, newsletters, organizing conferences, making TV/radio programs.
Rising awareness about civil society and state government by the rule of law that follows the principles of mutual respect, cooperation, dialogue and understanding among peoples living in Ukraine, as it is the main driver for equity, political stability and civil peace;
Strengthening the dialogue between state authorities and society.

Recent projects

2010

Documentary Photography Project

Wrocław, Monument to Victims of Crimes Committed by Ukrainian Nationalists

On April 8 the NGO "Russian-speaking Ukraine" and the Polish Society for the Remembrance of the Victims of Crimes Committed by Ukrainian Nationalists launched an exhibition entitled "The Volyn Massacre: Polish and Jewish victims of the OUN-UPA" in Ukrainian House in Kyiv. It was premier exhibit in the Ukrainian travel tour. In April–October period of 2010 exhibition was displayed in Kyiv, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Sevastopol, Yalta, Kharkiv.^[3]

World Without Nazism

On June 20–22 the Founding Convention of the International Human Rights Movement "World without Nazism" (of which the Russian-speaking Ukraine is one of several partners) took place in Kyiv. More than 350 delegates came to this event, among them representatives of more than 150 non-governmental organizations from more than 20 countries, including parliamentarians from Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, Moldova, Israel. A new international organization called World without Nazism was the result of couple of forums on the lessons of World War II. They have been held in Berlin (December, 2009) and Riga (March, 2010).^[4]

Major Publications in English

2007

Public Report on the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages implementation in Ukraine.^[5] This analysis was prepared for information-gathering process designed to enable the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to better evaluate the application of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Ukraine and to adopt its own report.

2008

Additional information to the Public Report on the European Charter for regional or minority languages implementation in Ukraine.^[6]

Public Report Concerning Observance of Regulations of Article 30 of the European Social Charter (Reconsidered) in Ukraine.^[7]

Footnotes and references

^ Vadym Kolesnichenko Biography
^ Council Board
^ RsU (9 August 2010), Documentary photo exhibition Volyn Massacre: Polish and Jewish victims of the OUN-UPA from the Internet Archive.
^ World Congress of Russian Jewry (2011), International Human Rights Movement "World without nazism", Internet Archive.
^ Public Report on the European Charter for regional or minority languages implementation in Ukraine [1]
^ Additional information to the Public Report on the European Charter for regional or minority languages implementation in Ukraine "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2015-04-02.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Public Report Concerning Observance of Regulations of Article 30 of the European Social Charter (Reconsidered) in Ukraine [2]

External links