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Ukraine’s lustration law runs counter to democratic norms — Russian diplomat

Russian Foreign Ministry’s human rights commissioner Konstantin Dolgov recalled an episode when Ukraine’s radical activists tossed lawmakers of opposite views into garbage bins

MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry’s human rights commissioner Konstantin Dolgov said on Tuesday neither Ukraine’s law on lustration nor the very process of lustration can be described as meeting democratic norms.

“From the point of view of international law, from the point of view of democratic standards, the law on lustration and the lustration process cannot be seen as meeting these standards,” he said in an interview with the Russia 24 television channel.

“The more so as lustration is practised not only through laws passed by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament). There is “garbage lustration” - a spontaneous, violent process,” he said, referring to episodes when Ukraine’s radical activists tossed lawmakers of opposite views into garbage bins.

“It is a spontaneous lustration with manifestations of violence. This is the process, the human rights violations that must be stopped immediately,” he stressed. “They require a more serious response from the international community, and we call for such response. This is what international institutions responsible for monitoring of the human rights situation should ponder on.