On May 8, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky submitted to the Verkhovna Rada draft law No. 13266 on the Military Ombudsman. It was registered as urgent upon the presidentʼs signature — the parliament must consider the document out of turn.
This was reported by the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel and Members of Their Families Olha Reshetylova.
The president will appoint a military ombudsman and his deputies. For this purpose, a separate Office of the Military Ombudsman will be created under the head of state — the institution will monitor that human rights are observed in the security and defense sector, as provided for by the law on national security.
The bill also describes how military personnel will be able to file complaints, how inspections will be conducted in military units if the rights of servicemen have been violated, and how the ombudsman will cooperate with other government agencies.
Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel and Their Family Members Olha Reshetylova reported that the Minister of Defense, officers of the Central Department for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel of the Ministry of Defense, as well as experts and representatives of civil society were involved in the development of the draft law.
- As of January 20, the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Servicemen and Their Families Olha Reshetylova received 3 876 appeals from servicemen in the first 20 days of work. The most frequent requests are the failure to refer to a military medical commission and treatment, and the problem of transferring soldiers between units.
- Of all 3 876 appeals, 302 did not concern the protection of servicemen and were referred to various departments. Another part of the servicemen or their relatives needed advice or clarification. In such cases, the Ombudsman provided contacts of lawyers.
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