The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations strongly opposes the use of law enforcement agencies by Ukrainian officials to propagate any ideologies (in particular, the gender ideology), for the purposes of censorship and restrictions of freedom of conscience, opinion, and expression.
The All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations strongly opposes the use of law enforcement agencies by Ukrainian officials to propagate any ideologies (in particular, the gender ideology), for the purposes of censorship and restrictions of freedom of conscience, opinion, and expression.
This is stated in the appeal of the AUCCRO addressed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine on December 11, the Institute of Religious Freedom reports.
The reason for this appeal was the aggressive actions of the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy, Kateryna Levchenko, who on December 8 this year announced live on Hromadske Radio the intention to involve the Security Service of Ukraine in order to counter the spread of appeals to regional and city councils with appeals to protect the institute of family in Ukraine. According to AUCCRO, this testifies to “the unacceptable behavior of a high-ranking civil servant."
“In the context of democratic system and pluralism, calls for censorship and restrictions on the constitutional rights of citizens to freedom of expression seem incompatible with the position of a civil servant,” said the AUCCRO of Ukraine in response to the threats by Kateryna Levchenko.
The AUCCRO reminds that Article 15 of the Constitution of Ukraine states: “Social life in Ukraine is based on the principles of ... ideological diversity. No ideology can be recognized by the state as obligatory. Censorship is prohibited.” At the same time, Article 34 of the Constitution of Ukraine states: “Everyone is guaranteed the right to freedom of thought and speech, free expression of their views and convictions.”
“We urge you, as Head of Government, to respond to this statement by the Governmental Commissioner for Gender Policy Kateryna Levchenko and to protect citizens of Ukraine who defend family values and take care of the future of their children from aggressive government officials and threats of criminal prosecution only for a civic standpoint. Such a totalitarian practice of government representatives is inadmissible in the Ukrainian democratic society,” stressed the AUCCRO in its address to Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman.
In addition, the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations appealed to the authorities not to ratify the Istanbul Convention, while developing instead domestic legislation to combat domestic violence.
The AUCCRO also invited the Government to establish a central executive agency for family, children, maternity and paternity support.
In this context, the AUCCRO calls on the Parliament of Ukraine to adopt the draft Resolution No. 8521 “On Measures to Ensure the Protection of Family Values and the Institute of Family in Ukraine”.