Civil Network OPORA

🇪🇺 Ukraine on the European path: #OPORA and the Institut für Europäische Politik e.V. launch a joint project Civil Network OPORA (Ukraine), in close cooperation with the Institut für Europäische Politik (#Berlin), launch the project “Pathways to Progress: Germany-Ukraine #Dialogues on Rule of Law for EU Accession.” The project promotes political dialogue between Kyiv, Berlin, and Brussels on the rule of law and fundamental values in the EU integration process. The enlargement methodology revised by the EU Commission in 2020 places a particularly strong focus on rule of law principles and fundamentals. Progress in these areas, which are bundled in the so-called “fundamentals cluster” will therefore determine the overall pace of accession talks. Close cooperation and the exchange of experience with #EU member states such as Germany, as one of the founding countries, are crucial for a successful accession process. Intensive dialogue, particularly concerning Chapters 23 and 24, covering key aspects of the rule of law, is essential. The project promotes a structured political dialogue in the core chapters of the „fundamentals cluster“ to develop a common understanding of the necessary legal and institutional reforms. It enables trustful exchange between governments and parliaments to identify potential bottlenecks and jointly develop solutions for the progress of negotiations. In addition, national and international experts from civil society are actively involved in the process. The focus is on securing electoral democracy in accordance with the rule of law, promoting judicial reform, and the legal framework for migration, also with regard Ukraine's human capital. A kick-off conference in Berlin, two closed-door discussions, two parliamentary network meetings, and two multi-stakeholder meetings in Kyiv, Berlin, and Brussels will take place during the almost 1.5-year span of the project. Its results will be published in the form of analyses. The project is funded through the project ‘Strengthening Ukraine's EU Alignment in the Rule of Law’ (3*E4U) of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office.

OPORA continues to develop and publish our technical solutions to collect and analyze data from social media. Our objective is to make the monitoring process more understandable and accessible and to automate most of its stages. We try to ensure that anyone, even without a special technical background, can use the data processing tools. Previously, we have already explained how to analyze the ads on social media Meta (Facebook, Instagram, etc.). Now, we publish our #code (https://cutt.ly/YeYqyGSo) you can use to check how similar the posts in different Telegram channels or Twitter accounts are. For example, if you feel like a post on a Telegram channel is suspiciously similar to a post on another channel, the code can help you verify how often other posts from those channels overlap. The code could be useful for researchers looking for efficient ways to process big data sets. In April, #OPORA published a research based on the application of this code. It helped us find out that 53% of posts from pro-Russian Telegram channels in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories are not genuine but merely copy-paste each other. The code is available in the Google Colab and includes additional user guidelines inside. To use the code, copy this text box into your workspace: “File” → “Save copy on the Disc”. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact via our official email [email protected] or directly to the research team ([email protected], [email protected]). #coordinatedactivities

OPORA Signs a Memorandum with the Prosecutor General's Office on Cooperation in Investigating Russian War Crimes 🤝 A number of civil society organizations, including the Civil Network OPORA, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation regarding the prosecution of individuals responsible for committing war crimes. The Memorandum aims to establish standards for interaction between prosecution bodies and civil society institutions, as well as international humanitarian law standards, particularly focused on the implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, into national criminal and criminal procedural legislation. The cooperation involves the exchange of available information on war crimes, holding regular working meetings within the framework of the International Expert Council on War Crimes Investigation, and providing mutual assistance in advocacy campaigns, development of training programs, and the creation of standards for prosecutors' work to enhance their professionalism and the effectiveness of investigations into crimes committed in the context of armed conflict. In addition to #OPORA, the organizations involved in the development and signing of the Memorandum include the Media Initiative for Human Rights, the Legal Development Network, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, the International Center for Ukrainian Victory, Truth Hounds, the Human Rights Platform, La Strada-Ukraine, the Center for Social Initiatives “Perspective”, the Institute of Legislative Ideas, the Human Rights Information Center (ZMINA), the Institute of Mass Information, the All-Ukrainian Human Rights Organization “Legal Hundred”, the All-Ukrainian Civic Center “Volunteer”, the Fund for Support of Fundamental Research, the Ukrainian Legal Aid Foundation, Minzmin, the Kharkiv Human Rights Group, the Regional Human Rights Center, the Ukrainian Association of International Law, and the Association of Women Lawyers of Ukraine “JurFem”. It is worth noting that, since 2022, a War Crimes Documentation Support Center has been operating in #Warsaw: https://lnkd.in/eBX9aU3Q In its first year of operation, the Center’s lawyers and psychologists collected nearly 1,500 preliminary interviews with witnesses. Initially, they interviewed Ukrainians in Warsaw shelters, and in the fall of 2023, they expanded to other Polish cities. Additionally, individuals can schedule interviews at the Center’s premises via a secure online form on the website warcrimescenter.org. Since its opening in September 2022, the Center has reached a steady operational level and continues to scale up. All collected data is officially transmitted to the prosecutors of Poland and Ukraine. The Center’s experts have established systematic cooperation with the UK government, the prosecutors of Poland and Ukraine, as well as relevant international organizations.

#OPORA continues to study the practice of criminal prosecution for participating in the organization and conduct of illegal #referendums and #elections. Our #report:

Head of the Board of the Civil Network OPORA Olga Aivazovska and digital platforms analyst Nastia Romaniuk visited Taiwan. We are sincerely grateful to the Doublethink Lab for the opportunity to explore the area. Read the insights of our analyst below 👇

Should Ukraine's partners be afraid of Russia's “red lines”❓ In May 2024, Volodymyr Zelensky said that every decision of the allies to provide Ukraine with weapons was a year late. Such delays in delivery have indeed led to the fact that as of the beginning of July 2024, 14 Ukrainian brigades were understaffed and unable to perform combat missions. ℹ️ A likely factor that prevents Ukraine's partners from responding quickly and effectively to challenges is the fear of an escalation of the conflict and a direct clash with Russia. This is what the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, said this July. Since the beginning of the full-scale #invasion, Russia has set "red lines" in an attempt to force Western countries to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine. However, the crossing of these lines did not cause the promised reaction. Kateryna Mikhalevska, Junior Analyst at Civil Network #OPORA, analyzed how the position of #Ukraine's partners has changed — from unwillingness to provide heavy weapons to the transfer of the first F-16 aircraft to Ukraine at the end of July 2024: https://cutt.ly/2ebJP2gV

We presented a new #study about "Funding of political parties and political corruption practices in Ukraine" The main points of the study 👇 Respondents' willingness to inform controlling authorities about such actions as illegal contributions in favor of candidates or parties, illegal financing of rallies, political events, campaign materials, violation of the reporting procedure by parties or candidates was quite limited. 👉 42% of respondents are NOT ready to provide such information Ukrainian citizens mostly do not see the benefit of introducing remuneration for those who will report to the controlling authorities about cases of violation of financial requirements for the election activities of parties and candidates. 👉 Only 36% of respondents believe that such practices will significantly contribute to counteracting such violations 🔗 Read more about research: https://cutt.ly/DebJwaXD *The field stage of the study in the form of a #survey was conducted by the sociological service of the Razumkov Centre from March 21 to March 27, 2024, at the request of the Civil Network #OPORA with the support of IFES in #Ukraine. #PoliticalParties #PoliticalCorruption #Research

Money is an essential resource for politics and voter outreach, but it must be accompanied by effective state regulation of funding of #politicalparties and #electioncampaigns This was discussed at the Eastern Europe #conference "Money in Politics" in #Moldova 🇲🇩 The topic of discussion this year was money in politics in the era of globalization and digitalization. "We assume that social media will become a key platform for campaigning in the next elections in #Ukraine, especially since many Ukrainians are now outside the country and it will be the easiest way for parties and candidates to communicate with them," said Olha Snopok, analyst of #OPORA's digital platforms. 🔗 More: https://cutt.ly/4exPhlA8

Olga Aivazovska, Chair of the Board of Civil Network OPORA, took part in the closed expert discussion "Democratic Challenges and Opportunities for Ukraine" held in June in Kyiv. Find below the main points of Olga Aivazovska's speech 👇 #Ukraine #Society #WarInUkraine #OPORA

Center for Assistance in War Crimes Documentation (OPORA in #Poland) 🇵🇱🇺🇦 The Center is the only #UkrainianOrganization in Poland that works with Ukrainians in order to collect information about Russian war crimes and officially transfer this data to Polish and Ukrainian prosecutors’ offices. During the first year of work, lawyers and psychologists of the Center collected almost 1,500 preliminary interviews with witnesses. You can personally sign up for an interview at the Center’s premises through a secure online form at https://lnkd.in/eBX9aU3Q Since its opening in September 2022, the Center has reached a sustainable level of activities and continues to expand. All collected data is officially transferred to the prosecutor’s offices in Poland and Ukraine. The Center’s experts have established ongoing cooperation with the Government of the United Kingdom, the prosecutor’s offices of Poland and Ukraine, as well as the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression in The #Hague. How do we work? → https://cutt.ly/AexIKvGX