“The key challenge to the freedom of peaceful assembly in Ukraine is Russia and its war” Ivanna Malchevska at the meeting of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

On 22-23 March, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights held a Freedom of Peaceful Assembly Monitoring Network Meeting. Ivanna Malchevska, Coordinator of the OZON Monitoring Group of the Center for Civil Liberties, attended the event and shared Ukrainian experiences there.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights monitors the freedom of peaceful assembly in OSCE member states. After that, it publishes a comprehensive report with monitoring results from several of them. The last report was issued on 1 August 2023 and can be viewed by clicking on the link. This year’s event gathered 18 representatives of civil society organizations and initiatives active in this field from various countries.

At the session entitled “Key Trends, Challenges, and Gaps in the Area of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly on the OSCE Space,” Ivanna Malchevska discussed the situation of freedom of peaceful assembly in Ukraine and how the war affected the implementation of this freedom and the activities of law-enforcement agencies. 

“The freedom of peaceful assembly is one of the pillars of the functioning democratic system. In such a manner, we can defend the democratic foundations of our countries. Indeed, constant missile strikes are a direct threat to them. Martial law has been effective in Ukraine since 24 February 2022. It restricts some citizens’ rights and freedoms, so today, not only courts but military administrations and military commands may prohibit peaceful assemblies.

Nonetheless, Ukrainians held their first peaceful assembly in the summer of 2022, only several months after the beginning of the full-scale war. Now, rallies are being held in various Ukrainian cities, including Odesa, Mykolaiv and Dnipro, which are located close to the front line. Their topics are mainly associated with the war. Currently, regular events occur to remember Azovstal heroes and civilians held in Russian captivity, and each Saturday, many cities host the “Money for the Armed Forces of Ukraine” campaign. 

Can you imagine a situation where the country is in a state of active war, and its people participate in protests in different cities demanding that the authorities allocate more money for the army? Such a scenario is a fantasy for many countries, but in Ukraine it is possible. 

Russian propaganda is also a new challenge to exercising the freedom of peaceful assembly in Ukraine. A few days ago, some Ukrainian NGOs dealing with media literacy reported that Russia had launched a new information propaganda campaign intended to instigate people to protest against the authorities. The standards that the police apply to their work during peaceful assemblies in times of war are another challenge. In general, we have observed that the police continue to perform well in terms of OSCE standards. However, we have faced problems with officers’ personal identification while they are in service.

Russia and its war are the key challenge to the freedom of peaceful assembly in Ukraine, at the same time, there are many good practices that can be learned from the Ukrainian experience. For instance, the fact the right to peaceful assembly can be exercised even under martial law and permanent real threats. And, if we can defend this right, we will also be able to defend the democratic foundations of our country”, Ivanka said in her speech.

On the first day of the meeting, Anete Erdmane, Human Rights Adviser/ Monitoring and Response Coordinator at OSCE ODIHR, spoke about the Office’s monitoring activities and the current stage of research. Also, Florin Gîscă, a Promo-LEX expert and Rafael Ishkhanyan, an expert of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia, shared their experiences.On the first day of the meeting, OSCE OHIHR presented its online course on the independent monitoring of the freedom of peaceful assembly, now accessible at the link.