Verkhovna Rada appoints new human rights commissioner to replace Denisova. What is known about him?

The Ukrainian Parliament has appointed MP Dmytro Lubinets, current chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Human Rights, Deoccupation and Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories in Donetsk, Luhansk Regions and Autonomous Republic of Crimea, National Minorities and Interethnic Relations, as the new Human Rights ombudsman, fellow MPs Oleksiy Honcharenko and Yaroslav Zheleznyak reported on Telegram.

Servant of the People reps cast the most votes for the appointment of Lubinets — 181. On the other hand, representatives of European Solidarity did not give a single vote in favor.

What is known about Dmytro Lubinets?

According to political watchdog CHESNO, in 2019, Lubinets was elected to the Verkhovna Rada as a non-partisan candidate from the 60th constituency in Donetsk Oblast.

In 2014, he was elected to the parliament from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc in the same constituency, and was a member of the party. Lubinets was also a member of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction, but left it in June 2019 and became a non-factional deputy.

According to media reports, Lubinets was one of the parliamentarians who signed the submission in 2017, on the basis of which the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional and canceled the article on punishment for illegal enrichment. And in December 2021, according to CHESNO, he was among the MPs who submitted a bill proposing to restore the mixed (proportional-majoritarian) election system.

The appointment of Lubinets to the position of parliamentary human rights commissioner was proposed, in particular, by the Speaker of the Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk.

What about the previous commissioner?

The Verkhovna Rada dismissed Lyudmyla Denisova from the post of  human rights ombudsperson on May 31. She held this position since March 2018. Denisova said she would appeal the dismissal in court.

According to the former ombudsperson, the authorities were allegedly not satisfied with her activity, in particular, regarding the collection of information about the situation in the temporarily occupied territories. At the same time, the authorities declared dissatisfaction with Denisova's work. She allegedly did not organize humanitarian corridors, did not participate in the protection and exchange of prisoners, and opposition to deportation. Denisova replied that she had no authority to do so.