Human rights defender: state bodies can no longer hush up facts of violations of believers’ rights of the UOC

At the meeting of the working group of the Universal Periodic Review of the 28th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, in the context of the UOC rights, comments of both the Ukrainian delegation and the delegations of other UN member states were considered. This was stated by human rights activist Oleg Denisov, head of the NGO “Public Advocacy”.

"Diplomatic missions of the United Nations confirmed the fact of violation of the rights of believers of the UOC, this fact was stated by many non-governmental organizations, including NGO" Public Advocacy", Denisov said. "Information on violations is included in the system of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and will be considered further."

The human rights activist noted that for the first time in the history of the United Nations, an Orthodox confession of such size and authority as the UOC has publicly advocated for its rights.

"There were so many facts confirming the discrimination of the UOC that it is no longer possible to doubt their reliability," Denisov said. “Therefore, the state bodies of Ukraine, which bear responsibility for the religious sphere, can no longer hide and hold back these facts. An obvious thing cannot be hidden."