The Genesis of th Regulatory Framework for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repressions of the Soviet Punitive and Repressive Regime in Ukraine: Practical Issues and Challenges

Abstract

Thus, in Ukraine the rehabilitation process of victims of repression of the Soviet totalitarian regime in fact commenced only as a result of the wave of national uplift and after the adoption of the corresponding law and a number of by-laws in 1991. At the same time, the Law of Ukraine “On rehabilitation of victims of political repression in Ukraine” was marked by substantial disadvantages, in particular, it didn’t take into account all categories of persons who suffered from repression during the USSR and were subject to rehabilitation. A significant step on the way to rehabilitation of victims of Soviet persecution and establishment of the historical truth was the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine” on November 28, 2006, which recognized the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine as an act of genocide. In 2015, after the Revolution of Dignity, a “de-communization package of laws” was passed, which condemned the communist regime, provided access to archives of the punitive and repressive bodies and restored historical justice concerning fighters for independence of Ukraine in the 20th century. In 2018 legislative alterations regarding the regulatory framework for rehabilitation were added (the categories of persons having the right to rehabilitation, forms and signs of repression were defined, the status of “a victim” was added, for improvement of processes of restorative justice, the National and regional rehabilitation commissions were created). The formation of a legal framework in Ukraine for the rehabilitation of victims of communist political repressions and the condemnation of the legacy of the communist totalitarian regime largely depended on the political orientation of the Ukrainian authorities. Full-fledged rejection of the communist legacy was slowed down by means of hybrid pressure from the russian federation, which considers the USSR as a part of its colonial influence in Ukraine and refuses to recognize the role of the empire in punitive and repressive actions during the existence of the Soviet Union.