According to the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Ukraine ranked first with a rate of 70.11%,
According to the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Ukraine ranked first with a rate of 70.11%, in the general rating of post-Soviet countries to grant access to the KGB archive, as reported by Eukraina.com.
“Leading in the rating does not mean we have to stop going further. As reforms are under way, at this stage the most important thing for us is to ensure the sustainable access to archives. Currently we are working to create an archive in the Institute which will receive all KGB archive documents. This is an important stage of the reform, which will make it impossible from now on for anybody, willing to exert a political influence over an access to archives, to do so. As a result of that, law enforcement authorities will no longer have to deal with things that are not their concern”, – says Volodymyr Vyatrovich, Chairman of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.
To see a full rating, visit Open-Archives.org online platform.
“My primary task is to show that we abide by the law, and the case of handing the SBU archive according to the law is a clear evidence of that. Our mission is to store archive data and to provide access to them. We are happy that the users appreciate the access to the data, while experts commend our progress”, – said Andriy Kogut, Director of the SBU Archive.
In addition to Ukraine, Georgia (68.37%) and Kazakhstan (68.36%) are also among the top three countries in the rating. The IDFI experts, when ranking a degree of openness of the state archives of the post-Soviet countries, also looked into the consistency of the legal framework regulating the operations of the state archives in those countries, as well as general and specific legislation pertaining to operations of archives, in addition to evaluating services offered by archives, web sites (archive websites, remote and online services), reading rooms (services and procedures for researchers).
It is noteworthy the rating methodology was developed based on the “Open Archives” Program created by the Ukrainian NGO “Center for the Study of the Liberation Movement”, as well as the recommendations of the International Council on Archives (ICA).
Among the Ukrainian archives the Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSA SSU) and the Central State Historic Archive scored highest (75.11% and 65.10%, respectively).
It should be mentioned that on May 21, 2015, the Law of Ukraine “On Access to Archives of Repressive Bodies of the Communist Totalitarian Regime of 1917-1991” came into force to introduce a free access to archives and their transfer from various departments of law enforcement authorities to the Sectoral State Archive of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.
The concept of the reform to grant access to the KGB archives in Ukraine was developed jointly with the civil society organizations, in particular Center for the Study of the Liberation Movement, which created the “Open Archives” Program, with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation, the Institute for Mass Media, the Reanimation Package of Reforms, and others.
Permanent access to archives of repressive bodies shall be guaranteed to each and all, under the Laws of Ukraine and Recommendation No. R (2000) 13 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to member countries regarding the European policy of access to archives, to promote studies of the national history as an integral part of democracy. After the fall of the communist regimes, Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, the Baltic and Central-Eastern European countries opened the secret documents of both punitive authorities and secret police to the general public and handed them over to civil society groups, akin to the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.
