Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group is one of the oldest and most active Ukrainian human rights organizations. As a legal entity, it was established in 1992, but it has been working as a human rights protection group in the Ukrainian SSR since 1988 under the Society "Memorial". It was the first official human rights organization in the former USSR. Many members of the organization took part in a human rights movement of the 1960s – 1980s.
Statutory mission
- gathering information about human rights abuse and sending this information to the relevant persons, organizations, and mass media
- carrying out public investigations of human rights violations
- legal enlightenment and popularization of law-protecting ideas
- examination of the operating laws and draft bills as to their compliance with international legal rules
- appealing to legislative, executive and judicial offices for problems concerning human rights
- initiating and supporting public protests, actions and conferences on problems of human rights
Major activities
- defense of persons whose rights are violated by legislative powers or public officials
- creation and support of an information network for human rights organizations
- preparation and publication of a series of history books dedicated to resistance to the totalitarian regime in the USSR
- human rights propaganda, among executive and legislative authorities, local governments, NGOs, and concerned citizens
- human rights education for various social and professional groups
- creation and management of a public reception center and library with free and easy access for all citizens
- analysis of the human rights situation in Ukraine
- annual All-Ukrainian human rights essay contests for college and high school students
- monitoring and protection of freedom of expression and privacy
- monitoring and protection of the right to freedom from torture, cruel, and unusual punishment
- analysis of the legislation and legislative practices concerning the special services
- investigating a history of the dissident movement in Ukraine, creating a biographical dictionary of dissidents and a list of persons repressed on political grounds between 1953 and 1988
- creation and support of the information resource «Human Rights in Ukraine»
- analysis of discrimination and inequality in Ukraine
Recent projects
- Creation of Virtual Human Rights Library in Ukraine
- Creation of a National System for the Prevention of Torture and Ill-Treatment in Ukraine
- Monitoring, Defense and Preparation of the Regional Report on Human Rights and the National Report on Human Rights "Human Rights in Ukraine – 2006"
- Analysis of the problem of overcrowding in facilities of preliminary detention
- Monitoring, Defense and Preparation of the Regional Report on Human Rights and the National Report on Human Rights "Human Rights in Ukraine – 2005"
- Legal and public monitoring of the presidential election campaign in the East and South of Ukraine and defense of voters' rights during the third stage of the election
- Monitoring, Defense and Preparation of the Regional Report on Human Rights and the National Report on Human Rights "Human Rights in Ukraine – 2004"
- Fostering human rights
- Creating mechanisms of cooperation of human rights organizations, Ukraine
- Campaigning against torture and cruel treatment in Ukraine
Major publications in English
- Access to information and other aspects of freedom of expression and privacy in Ukraine
- The Presidential elections – 2004 in Ukraine: A Human Rights perspective
- Against torture: Review of messages on torture and cruel treatment in Ukraine
- On torture and cruel treatment in Ukraine
International and foreign partners
- Amnesty International
- Human Rights Watch
- Association for the Prevention of Torture
- UN Committee against Torture
- European Committee on the Prevention of Torture and Cruel Treatment
- Moscow Helsinki Group
- International Society "Memorial"
- Russian Institute on Human Rights
Alliances
The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group was a member of the Coalition "Justice for Peace in Donbas".Today it is one of the trustees of the Tribunal for Putin coalition, which has recorded over 56,000 war crimes committed on Ukrainian territory since 24 February 2022 by Russia's armed forces. In 2025, KhPG was designated as an 'undesirable organization' in Russia.