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On the air of the Public Interactive Television, the lawyer of the Association Kateryna Levchenko told about the Law “On social and legal protection of people found to have been deprived of their personal liberty as a result of military aggression against Ukraine, and members of their families”, on which the Association, together with other organizations, worked for 5 years.

The Law provides for regular financial assistance, legal protection, medical and rehabilitation measures, job security, fast and free processing of documents, housing and a number of other public services. Both released hostages and relatives of people who remain in captivity can receive support.ф
Among other things, Kateryna answered the following questions:

Are people whose relatives died in captivity eligible for assistance?

Yes. If a hostage died in captivity or within a year after release as a result of injuries caused by captivity, his/her relative can receive one-time aid of 100 TUAH. Together with the application, a death certificate and a medical report stating the cause-and-effect relationship between captivity and death must be submitted.

How long does the Interdepartmental Commission consider an application to establish the fact of deprivation of liberty?

The application may be considered for more than a month due to the large number of requests. To save time, we recommend that together with an application for establishing the fact of deprivation of liberty, you submit an application for receiving financial aid of 100 TUAH right away.

Can former hostages file an application to establish the fact of deprivation of liberty in relation to people who were held captive with them?

Currently, this application can be submitted only by relatives and lawyers of the hostage, or by the hostage himself/herself after the release. We are lobbying for changes to the law, so that the application can also be submitted by civic organizations and people who know for sure that a certain person has been taken captive. This would resolve the issue of people who have no relatives who could inform the state about their captivity. In addition, expanding the list of people who can submit this application would eliminate the need to deal with paperwork for exhausted survivors after captivity. They could immediately receive all benefits and assistance, as the fact of their deprivation of liberty has already been proven.