Drapaty suspends head of Zakarpattia Territorial TRC – ombudsman
The head of the Zakarpattia Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center (TRC) has been suspended from his post following allegations of human rights violations and corruption risks in the center’s operations, reported Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets.
"There are no untouchables. By decision of the Commander-in-Chief, the head of the Zakarpattia TRC has been suspended from office! Today we have a concrete result: an order to suspend the head of the Zakarpattia TRC. This is precisely the case where a signal about a problem did not remain without a response, a concrete decision was made on it," Lubinets wrote on Telegram.
The Ombudsman noted that human rights violations and corruption risks had already been recorded repeatedly, particularly in the activities of the head of the Zakarpattia TRC, which were spoken of publicly, addressed through official responses, and met with demands to cease violations.
"But instead of correcting the problem, they decided to fight those who pointed it out. First, attempts to hush up the revealed facts. When that didn’t work, informational pressure and even intentions to fabricate criminal proceedings against my employees who uncovered these violations. But that didn’t work," he said.
Lubinets considers this issue much broader than a single personnel change and questioned why the situation became possible in the first place.
"This is the result of more than one day and not the actions of one person. When there is no proper control for years, and systemic problems are not reacted to, a sense of impunity forms. This is precisely what, in my conviction, happened in Zakarpattia. And here one cannot overlook the inaction of the former leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which should have reacted to problems in the TRC system much earlier," he emphasized.
The Ombudsman separately thanked Commander-in-Chief of the AFU Mykhailo Drapatyi for his clear stance and response.
"This is exactly how the system works: we identify a problem, the responsible authorities eliminate it. Without hushing up, dragging out, or attempts to shift responsibility onto those who speak about the problem. Only such interaction yields real results and guarantees that human rights will be respected!" Lubinets stated.
As reported, Operational Command "West" declared its readiness to verify all circumstances regarding the activities of certain territorial recruitment and social support centers of Zakarpattia region and provide the competent authorities with necessary materials.