Amnesty International demands from Ukraine to admit there is racial discrimination

Human rights organization Amnesty International demands from the Ukrainian government to admit officially there is racial discrimination in Ukraine and to take measures to its overcoming and protection of possible victims, according to the international obligations of Ukraine.

These were the demands announced in Kyiv on July 10, at the presentation of human rights organization “Amnesty International”.

The authors of the report state that the Ukrainian state doesn’t follow the obligations regarding the protection from discrimination of everyone who lives on its territory.

“Amnesty International” is concerned about the increasing cases of aggression against foreigners and representatives of ethnic and religious minorities as there is no adequate reaction from official bodies.

According to the report, in 2008, 4 foreigners were killed in Kyiv; the aggression was provoked by the color of their skin, as BBC reports.

Generally, according to “Amnesty International” there were about 30 serious racial attacks in Ukraine this year – most of the people, attacked, were of African or Asian birth. The objects of racial attacks are also Gypsies, Jews and buildings owned by Jews.

Moreover, according to the report, Ukrainian skinheads try to imitate the actions of the similar groups in Russia and share the experience with Russian ultra-nationalists regarding how to make attacks and run away from militia.

Human rights activists are especially concerned about absence of the open official statistics regarding attacks for racial reasons, said researcher in Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus Gieser MacGill. “The racial motivation is not taken to consideration and many of such crimes are treated like usual rowdiness. The Premier, President and Government must admit there is racism and dispraise its shows.

Amnesty International agrees that this problem doesn’t concerns Ukraine only, the human rights activists state the authorities don’t take the problem seriously enough, and Ukrainian courts identify racial attacks as rowdiness.

Although, the international human rights activists state there is positive evidence that the representatives of the Ukrainian authorities are ready to communication and “some of them admit there is a problem of racism and discrimination”, as Pravda-Ukraine reports.