Compensation process for the family of Ihor Homeniuk

The Ombudsman, Maria Lúcia Amaral, will conduct the process with maximum speed to present a proposal for compensation to the family of the Ukrainian citizen Ihor Homeniuk.

The Ombudsman’s intervention follows the Resolution of the Council of Ministers approved today, in which the State assumes responsibility for paying compensation to the family of Ihor Homeniuk, who died on 12 March 2020, following extremely serious events that occurred at the Espaço Equiparado ao Centro de Instalação Temporária (EECIT) of Lisbon Airport.

As was the case with the victims of the major fires of 2017 or with the victims of the collapse of Municipal Road 255, the extrajudicial compensation processes conducted by the Ombudsman are exceptional attributions, requiring, for this reason, that they be preceded and framed by specific rules that enable him to pursue this purpose.

The Ombudsman is an independent state body that promotes and defends the fundamental rights of citizens and to whom they can appeal when they feel harmed by unfair or illegal acts of the administration or other public powers. Created in 1975, the Ombudsman is also a National Human Rights Institution, performing the functions of a National Prevention Mechanism and ensuring that Portugal complies with the United Nations Convention and Protocols against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.