Seventy-five years ago, on 4 November 1950, the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was signed in Rome - the first international treaty that made human rights legally binding for states and became the foundation of the system for the protection of rights and freedoms in Europe.
At a time when Europe is once again facing its gravest challenges due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the significance of the Convention is of particular importance. Mass killings, torture, deportations, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure - all these Russian crimes grossly violate the rights guaranteed by the Convention: the right to life, the prohibition of torture, the right to liberty, security and respect for private life.
The Russian Federation, expelled from the Council of Europe for its aggression, continues to blatantly disregard all these principles. At the same time, the Convention and the European Court of Human Rights remain key instruments for documenting crimes and bringing those responsible to justice for violations committed against Ukrainian citizens.
An important confirmation of this was the Court’s judgment in the inter-State case “Ukraine and the Netherlands versus Russia”, which established Russia’s responsibility for large-scale and systematic human rights violations in the occupied territories of Ukraine. This judgment affirmed both the legal and moral responsibility of the aggressor state for its contempt of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Convention.
Ukraine remains committed to its obligations within the framework of the Convention system, actively cooperates with the European Court of Human Rights, and consistently implements reforms in the field of human rights protection even under wartime conditions. We are convinced that ensuring justice and holding the aggressor accountable are integral elements of the European legal order.
This anniversary reminds us that human rights are not a privilege or a matter of compromise, but the foundation of peace, freedom, and justice- values for which Ukraine is fighting today together with the entire democratic Europe.