Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group

Infobox Non-profit
Non-profit_name=Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
Non-profit_logo=
Non-profit_type=
founded_date=November 1992
founder=
location=Kharkiv, Ukraine
origins=
key_people=Yevgen Zakharov and Irina Rapp
area_served=Ukraine
focus=
method=
revenue=
endowment=
num_volunteers=
owner=
Non-profit_slogan=
homepage= [http://www.khpg.org/ khpg.org]
tax_exempt=yes
dissolved=
footnotes=

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KhPG) is one of the oldest and most active Ukrainian human rights organizations. As a legal entity, it was established in 1992, but it has been working as a human rights protection group since 1988 under the Society "Memorial", a first official human rights organization in the former USSR. Many members of the organization took part in a human rights movement of the 1960’s – 1980’s.

tatutory mission

*gathering information about human rights abuse and sending this information to the relevant persons, organizations, and mass media
*carrying out public investigations of human rights violations
*legal enlightenment and popularization of law-protecting ideas
*examination of the operating laws and draft bills as to their compliance with international legal rules
*appealing to legislative, executive and judicial offices for problems concerning human rights
*initiating and supporting public protests, actions and conferences on problems of human rights

Major activities

*defense of persons whose rights are violated by legislative powers or public officials (since 1988)
*creation and support of an information network for human rights organizations (since 1992)
*preparation and publication of a series of history books dedicated to resistance to the totalitarian regime in the USSR (since 1992)
*human rights propaganda, among executive and legislative authorities, local governments, NGOs, and concerned citizens (since 1993)
*human rights education for various social and professional groups (since 1993)
*creation and management of a public reception center and library with free and easy access for all citizens (since 1995)
*analysis of the human rights situation in Ukraine (since 1995)
*annual All-Ukrainian human rights essay contests for college and high school students (since 1996)
*monitoring and protection of freedom of expression and privacy (since 1996)
*monitoring and protection of the right to freedom from torture, cruel, and unusual punishment (since 1996) [ [http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/ngos/khrpg.doc KhPG 2007 Report about Ukraine’s compliance with the UN Convention against Torture] ]
*analysis of the legislation and legislative practices concerning the special services (since 1996)
*investigating a history of the dissident movement in Ukraine, creating a biographical dictionary of dissidents and a list of persons repressed on political grounds between 1953 and 1988 (since 1996) [ [http://khpg.org/archive/en/index.php?r=15 Dissident Movement in Ukraine] Virtual Museum (personalities, articles, interviews) ]
*creation and support of the information resource «Human Rights in Ukraine» (www.khpg.org) (since 2000)
*analysis of discrimination and inequality in Ukraine (since 2002)

Recent projects

*Creation of Virtual Human Rights Library in Ukraine (December 2006 - June 2007) [ [http://library.khpg.org/ On-line library "Human Rights"] uk icon]
*Creation of a National System for the Prevention of Torture and Ill-Treatment in Ukraine (November 2006 – January 2008)
*Monitoring, Defense and Preparation of the Regional Report on Human Rights and the National Report on Human Rights “Human Rights in Ukraine – 2006” (July 2006 – June 2007) [ [http://khpg.org/index.php?r=a1b6c14d1 Report "Human Rights in Ukraine – 2006"] uk icon]
*Analysis of the problem of overcrowding in facilities of preliminary detention (January 2006 – February 2007)
*Monitoring, Defense and Preparation of the Regional Report on Human Rights and the National Report on Human Rights “Human Rights in Ukraine – 2005” (July 2005 – June 2006) [ [http://www.helsinki.org.ua/en/index.php?r=27&t=2c Report "Human Rights in Ukraine – 2005"] ]
*Legal and public monitoring of the presidential election campaign in the East and South of Ukraine and defense of voters’ rights during the third stage of the election (December 2004 – Мay 2005)
*Monitoring, Defense and Preparation of the Regional Report on Human Rights and the National Report on Human Rights “Human Rights in Ukraine – 2004” (June 2004 – April 2005) [ [http://www.helsinki.org.ua/en/index.php?r=27&t=1c Report "Human Rights in Ukraine – 2004"] ]
*Fostering human rights (February 2005 – January 2008)
*Creating mechanisms of cooperation of human rights organizations, Ukraine (August 2003 – July 2004)
*Campaigning against torture and cruel treatment in Ukraine (July 2003 – July 2006) [http://khpg.org/en/index.php?r=a2b1c3]

Major publications in English

*Access to information and other aspects of freedom of expression and privacy in Ukraine [http://khpg.org/en/docs/1135408921.zip]
*The Presidential elections – 2004 in Ukraine: A Human Rights perspective [http://khpg.org/en/docs/1126177165.zip]
*Against torture: Review of messages on torture and cruel treatment in Ukraine (June 2001 – December 2002) [http://khpg.org/data/2004/1095798001_torture.pdf]
*On torture and cruel treatment in Ukraine (1997-2001) [http://khpg.org/data/2004/1080681002_book_torture.zip]

International and foreign partners

*Amnesty International
*Human Rights Watch
*Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)
*UN Committee against Torture
*European Committee on the Prevention of Torture and Cruel Treatment (CPT)
*Moscow Helsinki Group
*International Society “Memorial”
*Russian Institute on Human Rights

Awards

EU/US Democracy and Civil Society Award (1998)

Notes and external links