Ukrainian Parliament votes for wide-ranging ban on the exercise of freedom of expression in support of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons

Reply to Written question | Doc. 13101 | 21 January 2013

Author(s):

Committee of Ministers

Origin

Adopted at the 1159th meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (16 January 2013). 2013 - First part-session

Reply to Written question

: Written question no. 618 (Doc. 13047)

Thesaurus

1. In reply to the Honourable Parliamentarian’s Written Question No. 618, the Committee of Ministers assures the Parliamentary Assembly that the issue of combating discrimination of any kind is of high priority.

2. Like all member States, Ukraine has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights and is committed to guarantee respect for all Convention rights, notably in the light of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, to all individuals without discrimination. The Committee of Ministers recalls that Ukraine is also bound by further international treaty obligations in this regard, such as the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

3. The Committee of Ministers takes note of the information provided by Ukraine that equal rights are enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine, namely in Article 24 which states that “Citizens shall have equal constitutional rights and freedoms and shall be equal before the law. There shall be no privileges or restrictions based on race, skin colour, political, religious, and other beliefs, gender, ethnic and social origin, property status, place of residence, linguistic or other characteristics ...”.

4. The Committee of Ministers assures the Parliamentary Assembly that it will continue to closely follow the case, notably in light of the recent legislative developments in Ukraine.