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‘Limited range of actors’ at Ukraine talks – O’Flaherty

Professor Michael O’Flaherty, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, has expressed his concern at the lack of attention on people, justice and human rights in the recent peace-deal negotiations initiated by the US administration.

“There has been no mention of human beings whatsoever in what I’m following in the media from current US initiatives in relation to Ukraine – it’s about property and land and there’s no reference to the people who live on that land or who have been displaced from it,” he said.

“We did a review of what big influential think-tanks in the US are saying about Ukraine and found nothing about the specific issues of honouring human dignity in the context of building peace.”

Commissioner O’Flaherty was speaking at an event in Dublin City University (DCU) on 27 February to mark the third anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine.

An Irish human-rights lawyer, he has served as the Director of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and in various posts at the Office of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights – notably in setting up operations in conflict-affected countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He is to make his second visit to Ukraine in the next couple of weeks since taking up his current mandate in January 2024. “My big preoccupation now is that we need to draw on decades of good practice in the role of human rights in orienting any path to peace in Ukraine,” he said.

Engagement of civil society

“I looked on with bemusement at the limited range of actors that were in the room [at US-led meetings on Ukraine]. I have participated in several peace negotiations and seen how it was the engagement of civil society that got issues onto the table that would otherwise have been entirely overlooked.

“National and international human-rights representatives and bodies need to be in the room; for example, Dmytro Lubinets, Ombudsman of Ukraine, who would bring his unique voice to the discussions.

“There is a need for a persistent and full engagement with the situation in Ukraine on the part of regional and international human-rights machineries. In my mind, oversight bodies have insufficiently engaged with the urgency of the lived experience of the country.

“I also worry about the absence of the UN at peace-deal meetings, which means human-rights dimensions will not automatically come into the room.”

UN monitoring role

In his keynote speech at the DCU event, Dr O’Flaherty said that it was important to acknowledge the vital role of the UN in terms of monitoring in Ukraine.

“The UN has become the primary source in terms of what is happening on the ground, and it continues to deliver this despite the refusal of Russian forces to give access to the monitors,” he said.

“In conflict after conflict over the years I have seen the critical role that investment in monitoring plays, in terms of immediate engagement with the situation, understanding and interpreting it and towards eventual criminal justice.”