Policy

Rada withdraws from consideration the law on expanding the powers of the National Guard regarding weapons

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has removed from its agenda draft law No. 10311, which provided for the expansion of the National Guard’s powers to use firearms, special equipment and drones against participants in mass protests. This was announced by Vitaliy Shabunin, chairman of the board of the Anti-Corruption Action Center (AntAC), Komersant ukrainskyi reports

Reasons for withdrawal of the bill

Shabunin said that the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) failed to refute the criticism of the document. According to him, the proposed norms would have actually granted the right to use weapons against protesters, which caused a serious public debate.

“The Interior Ministry did NOT even try to refute our analysis. The Ministry of Internal Affairs called everything we argued as expanding opportunities to counter protests as a regulation of the rights of the National Guard,” Shabunin said.

He also emphasized that such an approach could lead to the legitimization of the use of force against peaceful demonstrators.

MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak commented on the situation, noting that the draft law needs to be significantly revised.

According to him, its adoption in the current version is unlikely within the current convocation of the Verkhovna Rada.

“I do not believe in conspiracy here. Frankly, everyone understood that it needed to be finalized. I don’t think we will pass it in this convocation. At least not in this version,” Zheleznyak said.

Previous discussions

Earlier, the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada approved a bill that would expand the powers of the National Guard to use firearms, tear gas and drones during mass unrest.

The Verkhovna Rada had already passed the bill in the first reading, but the parliament’s law enforcement committee added a number of amendments to the second reading version.

The new version of draft law No. 10311 allows the National Guard to:

• use firearms, in particular to stop mass disorder, without proper warning to protesters;
• to use rubber and plastic batons, tear gas, and stun guns against rioters;
• to mark offenders during mass riots, for example, with paint;
• to use drones, but the MPs are very generalized about what exactly they are going to use them for. It is likely that they will be used to monitor protesters

However, this drew criticism from human rights activists and civil society organizations, who emphasized the risks of violating the rights and freedoms of citizens.