War

Ukrainian military will have their own ombudsman: work on the bill is nearing completion

The concept of introducing a military ombudsman was presented to the President of Ukraine the day before. This was announced by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.

According to him, this is an important initiative of the Ministry of Defense aimed at systematic protection of the rights of our servicemen.

“The military ombudsman should receive all the necessary tools for real and thorough work: protecting the rights of servicemen, reservists and their families, as well as analyzing systemic problems and solving them. The President has instructed us to prepare a presentation of the relevant draft law, and we will soon submit this document to the Verkhovna Rada for consideration,” the minister said.

He reminded that the first step in this direction was the creation of the Central Department for the Protection of Servicemen’s Rights, which is already demonstrating concrete results: responding to complaints, visiting the places of violations, conducting inspections and ensuring the restoration of the rights of our soldiers. The next step is to introduce the institution of a military ombudsman.

As Olga Reshetylova, coordinator of the Media Initiative for Human Rights, explained recently, the initiative aims to create an effective mechanism for monitoring and protecting rights and freedoms in the entire security and defense sector.

“As a person who has been advocating for the establishment of a military ombudsman in Ukraine for nine years, I want to tell you that we have never been so close to this goal. Because the establishment of the military ombudsman institution was announced by Volodymyr Zelenskyi as one of the ten points of sustainability. And if the President’s team and the Minister of Defense manage to defend the ideas behind this draft law, it will be a historic event for the Ukrainian army. Because what we are putting into it is about fundamental changes in the army, about the dignity of the serviceman – from soldier to commander-in-chief, about mutual understanding and support between all components of the state’s security and defense,” noted Olga Reshetylova.

What is known about the work on the draft law

For several months now, a team has been working on the draft law on the military ombudsman on the basis of the Ministry of Defense, in particular the Central Department for the Protection of Servicemen’s Rights. And now the work on this draft law is almost at the final stage.

According to Olga Reshetylova, coordinator of the Media Initiative for Human Rights, it will be ready for expert and public discussion early next year. And then there is a difficult path until the bill is voted by the Verkhovna Rada and signed by the President.

“At the moment, we can say that the military ombudsman will be part of civilian control over the security and defense sector. For the period of martial law, this institution is envisaged in the President’s vertical. However, the transitional provisions are likely to state that the military ombudsman should eventually become a parliamentary commissioner,” the human rights activist said.

She also said that work is underway to harmonize the powers of the ombudsman and his office, its interaction with other bodies, and to draft amendments to laws and regulations.

Who is currently protecting the rights of the military in the Ministry of Defense?

In April of this year, it was announced that the Central Department for the Protection of Servicemen’s Rights had been established, which reports directly to the Minister of Defense and is responsible for reviewing appeals and complaints from servicemen, providing primary legal aid, conducting inspections and investigating violations of the rights of servicemen and their families.

“The implementation of this initiative provides for a comprehensive approach to protecting the rights of soldiers and their families, including responding to specific complaints, analyzing specific situations, visiting the sites of violations, conducting inspections and taking further measures to restore rights,” said Rustem Umerov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, at the time.

The main violations checked by the Central Department for the Protection of Servicemen’s Rights include

– provision of military personnel,

– the right to vacation,

– prevention of abuse of commanders’ rights,

– failure to provide/insufficient provision of medical care,

– social guarantees,

– violations of gender equality.

Military ombudsmen protect rights in many countries

The institution of military ombudsman was first introduced in Sweden in 1915. After the Second World War, the institution of military ombudsman (or its equivalent) appeared in Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Austria, Canada, Ireland, Belgium and other countries.

Over the past 25 years, there has been a rapid growth in the number of ombuds institutions for the armed forces around the world, which is, among other things, evidence of their growing role and importance in the system of democratic governance. The existence of a strong, independent ombuds institution is an important indicator of the maturity of the democratic governance system as a whole.

The experience of countries where this institution has already proved its effectiveness was taken into account when drafting the Ukrainian law defining the status and rights of the military ombudsman.