The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has found that Ukraine has violated the rights of Ukrainian IDPs by refusing to allow them to vote in local elections. And obliged Ukraine to pay 4,500 euros of compensation for moral damages to the four complainants.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the ECHR ruling.
It is reported that the court was addressed by displaced women Alexandra Seligenenko, Anastasia Martynovskaya, Darya Sviridova and Yevgeniya Terekhova (from Sevastopol, Alupka and Donetsk), who after the occupation of the territories moved to Kiev and became registered. At the same time, their propiska remained the same.
At the end of 2015, they registered to vote before the local elections in Kyiv, but their applications were rejected. The CEC of Ukraine responded to the complaint by stating that the basis for voting in local elections was the propiska.
The applicants appealed to the courts of first instance, which acknowledged that the right to vote in local elections belongs to the citizens of Ukraine who "belong" to local communities and reside in the respective electoral districts. And the place of residence must be indicated in the passport. This decision was supported by the courts of appeal.
The ECtHR decision states that under Ukrainian law, a citizen could vote in local elections only according to the registration of the place of residence.
"Despite the fact that the applicants were not treated differently from other citizens, the court found that as temporarily displaced persons, they were in a completely different position compared to other citizens: they could not simply return to their place of residence in another part of Ukraine and vote," the document says.
The ECtHR notes that the applicants had been living in Kyiv for more than a year at the time of the elections, had paid local taxes, etc., and were therefore interested in the outcome of the elections.
"In accordance with the legislation of that time, the applicants, in addition, risked losing their IDP status if they changed their place of residence. Overall, the court found that, without taking into account the applicants' specific situation, the authorities discriminated against them in their right to vote in local elections," the decision reads.
In addition, the court ruled that Ukraine should pay the applicants 4,500 euros each as compensation for moral damages.
We shall remind you that only in 2020, the CEC allowed IDPs to vote in local elections at the place of their actual residence.
