High court upholds decree recognizing UPA partisans as World War II combatants

Maria Shvenko, a spokesperson for the
high administrative court, told the Kyiv Post, however, that the court’s
decision “doesn’t mean it had recognized the UPA veterans as WWII combatants.”

In his last days in office, Yushchenko
on Jan. 28, 2010, issued a presidential decree in which he recognized UPA
veterans combatants of WWII as those “who fought for Ukraine’s independence in
the 20th century,” among other combatants dating to events that transpired
during and immediately after WWI.

But in April 2010, Natalia Vitrenko, the
leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, which stands for the reunification
of Ukraine with Russia and Belarus, filed a lawsuit that challenged parts of
the presidential decree.

In her lawsuit, Vitrenko said the decree
violates her constitutional rights “inasmuch as it demeans her dignity as a
daughter of a Red Army veteran who fought against the Nazis and their abettors
during WWII, as well as dishonors her as a civic and political activist,” reads
the high administrative court decision.

However, in its ruling, the court said
that the clause of the decree that mentions UPA veterans “in part and in whole
concern a defined circle of people who in no way directly infringe on the
rights, liberties and interests of the plaintiff.”

The court furthermore ruled that
Vitrenko had failed to provide “grounds” for and didn’t “substantiate” her
lawsuit to cancel the clause of the decree that recognized the Ukrainian
partisans. 

Separately, the court ruled that the
“decree is constitutional and legal in nature, was enacted within the mandate
of the head of state and resides in regulatory acts, and thus, applies only to
a certain number of persons to which the plaintiff isn’t included.”

High Administrative Court rulings are
final and not subject to an appeal. The ruling also upheld two lower court
decisions that also upheld the presidential decree.

Kyiv
Post editor Mark Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].