“The Ombudsman is not a commodity and parliament is not a bazaar!”. That was the message from Ukrainian rights activists this week and one that Ukraine’s parliamentarians have now ignored. On March 15, a politician was elected to the post by her colleagues through procedure in open breach of the Law on the Human Rights Ombudsperson. Ludmila Denisova has announced that she will not take office until she has ceased to be an MP and member of the People’s Front, but this cannot change a situation which has gravely undermined the most important human rights institution in Ukraine. This is both because the appointment was openly viewed as part of political quotas for the different coalition partners in the Verkhovna Rada and because of the shenanigans used to obtain the vote.
Valeria Lutkovska’s term as Parliamentary Commissioner on Human Rights (Ombudsman) came to an end on April 28, 2017, and a new Ombudsman needed to be chosen or Lutkovska reappointed. A time limit of 20 days is set aside for this in the Law on the Human Rights Ombudsman.
