Human rights in Ukraine

Human rights in Ukraine were better than those in most former Soviet republics as of 2009 and Ukraine was labeled as "Free" by organizations such as Freedom House. However, after Viktor Yanukovych became president of Ukraine in 2010, Freedom House labeled Ukraine "Partly Free" in 2011.Amnesty International also signalled a significant deterioration of the observance of human rights in Ukraine in 2011. According to Freedom House the human rights situation significantly improved in the aftermath of the Euromaidan revolution in 2014. The country received better ratings for political pluralism, parliamentary elections, and government transparency. As of 2015 the country is labelled "Partly Free". According to the OSCE, as of 2015 the elections in Ukraine generally respect democratic process, but additional efforts needed to enhance public confidence. According to the last report by Human Rights Watch organization both sides are violating laws of war during ongoing War in Donbass, the government imposed excessive restrictions on freedom of media and the sexual diversity is not fullly respected. On 21 May 2015 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed a resolution declaring the suspension of conventions for Human Rights in the eastern Donbass region.

Ukraine signed but not yet ratified

Ukraine had been labeled as "free" by organizations such as Freedom House in 2009. In their report they stated: "Ukraine has one of the most vibrant civil societies in the region. Citizens are increasingly taking issues into their own hands, protesting against unwanted construction, and exposing corruption. There were no limits seen on NGO activities. Trade unions function, but strikes and worker protests were infrequently observed, even though dissatisfaction with the state of economic affairs was pervasive in the fall of 2008. Factory owners were seen as still able to pressure their workers to vote according to the owners’ preferences." On October 20, 2009 experts from the Council of Europe stated "in the last five years the experts from the Council of Europe who monitor Ukraine have expressed practically no concerns regarding the important [process of the] formation of a civil society in Ukraine. Ukraine is one of the democratic states in Europe that is securing human rights as a national policy, as well as securing the rights of national minorities." According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), "while civil society institutions operate mostly without government interference, police abuse and violations of the rights of vulnerable groups … continue to mar Ukraine's human rights record."

...
Wikipedia