| UKRAINE Ukraine Ukrayina Joined United Nations: 24 October 1945 Human Rights as assured by their constitution Click here Updated 12/21/10 |
| CAPITAL |
| POPULATION |
| CHIEF OF STATE |
| SELECTION PROCESS |
Kyiv (Kiev)
45,415,596 (July 2010 est.)
Mykola Azarov
Prime Minister since 11 March 2010
Prime Minister since 11 March 2010
President elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a
second term);election last held 17 January 2010 with runoff 7
February 2010
Next scheduled election: 2015
second term);election last held 17 January 2010 with runoff 7
February 2010
Next scheduled election: 2015
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT
SELECTION PROCESS
The majority in parliament takes the lead in naming the prime
minister, elections: last held 30 September 2007
Next scheduled election: May 2012
minister, elections: last held 30 September 2007
Next scheduled election: May 2012
| DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS |
| ETHNIC GROUPS |
Ukrainian 77.8%, Russian 17.3%, Belarusian 0.6%, Moldovan 0.5%, Crimean Tatar 0.5%, Bulgarian 0.4%, Hungarian 0.3%,
Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001 census)
Romanian 0.3%, Polish 0.3%, Jewish 0.2%, other 1.8% (2001 census)
| RELIGIONS |
Ukrainian Orthodox - Kyiv Patriarchate 50.4%, Ukrainian Orthodox - Moscow Patriarchate 26.1%, Ukrainian Greek Catholic 8%,
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox 7.2%, Roman Catholic 2.2%, Protestant 2.2%, Jewish 0.6%, other 3.2% (2006 est.)
Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox 7.2%, Roman Catholic 2.2%, Protestant 2.2%, Jewish 0.6%, other 3.2% (2006 est.)
| GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE |
Republic with 24 provinces (oblasti, singular - oblast'), 1 autonomous republic (avtonomna respublika), and 2 municipalities (mista, singular
- misto) with oblast status; Legal system is based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction
Executive: President elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 7 February 2010 (next to be
held in 2015); under constitutional reforms that went into effect 1 January 2006, the majority in parliament takes the lead in naming the
prime minister
Legislative: Unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; members allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that
gain 3% or more of the national electoral vote; to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 30 September 2007 (next to be held in 2012)
Judicial: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court
- misto) with oblast status; Legal system is based on civil law system; judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction
Executive: President elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 7 February 2010 (next to be
held in 2015); under constitutional reforms that went into effect 1 January 2006, the majority in parliament takes the lead in naming the
prime minister
Legislative: Unicameral Supreme Council or Verkhovna Rada (450 seats; members allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that
gain 3% or more of the national electoral vote; to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 30 September 2007 (next to be held in 2012)
Judicial: Supreme Court; Constitutional Court
| LANGUAGES |
Ukrainian (official) 67%, Russian 24%, other 9% (includes small Romanian-, Polish-, and Hungarian-speaking minorities)
| BRIEF HISTORY |
Human settlement on the territory of Ukraine has been documented into distant prehistory. The late Neolithic Trypillian culture
flourished from about 4500 BC to 3000 BC. The Copper Age people of the Trypillian culture were resided in the western part, and
the Sredny Stog further east, succeeded by the early Bronze Age Yamna ( "Kurgan") culture of the steppes, and by the Catacomb
culture in the 3rd millennium BC. During the Iron Age, these were followed by the Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, among other
nomadic peoples. The Scythian Kingdom existed here from 750 BC to 250 BC. Along with ancient Greek colonies founded from
the 6th century BC on the north-eastern shore of the Black Sea, the colonies of Tyras, Olbia, Hermonassa, perpetuated by Roman
and Byzantine cities until the 6th century AD. In the 3rd century AD, the Goths arrived in the lands of Ukraine around 250 AD to
375 AD, which they called Oium, corresponding to the archaeological Chernyakhov culture. The Ostrogoths stayed in the area but
came under the sway of the Huns from the 370s. North of the Ostrogothic kingdom was the Kiev culture, flourishing from the 2nd
to 5th centuries, when it was overrun by the Huns. After they helped defeat the Huns at the battle of Nedao in 454, the Ostrogoths
were allowed to settle in Pannonia. With the power vacuum created with the end of Hunnic and Gothic rule, Slavic tribes, possibly
emerging from the remnants of the Kiev culture, began to expand over much of what is now Ukraine during the 5th century, and
beyond to the Balkans from the 6th century. In the 7th century, the territory of modern Ukraine was the core of the state of the
Bulgars (often referred to as Great Bulgaria) with its capital city of Phanagoria. At the end of the 7th century, most Bulgar tribes
migrated in several directions and the remains of their state were absorbed by the Khazars, a semi-nomadic people from Central
Asia. The Khazars founded the Khazar kingdom in the southeastern part of today's Europe, near the Caspian Sea and the
Caucasus. The kingdom included western Kazakhstan, and parts of eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, southern Russia, and Crimea. Up
to the ninth century the land was dominated by the Khazars, the Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia who adopted
Judaism. In the 9th century, Kiev was conquered from the Khazars by the Varangian noble Oleg who started the long period of rule
of the Rurikid princes. During this time, several Slavic tribes were native to Ukraine, including the Polans, the Drevlyans, the
Severians, the Ulichs, the Tiverians, and the Dulebes. Situated on lucrative trade routes, Kiev among the Polanians quickly
prospered as the center of the powerful Slavic state of Kievan Rus. In the 11th century, Kievan Rus' was, geographically, the
largest state in Europe, becoming known in the rest of Europe as Ruthenia (the Latin name for Rus', especially for western
principalities of Rus' after the Mongol invasion. The name "Ukraine", meaning "border-land" first appears in recorded history on
maps of the period. Although Christianity had made inroads into territory of Ukraine before the first ecumenical council, the Council
of Nicaea (325) (particularly along the Black Sea coast) and, in Western Ukraine during the time of empire of Great Moravia, the
formal governmental acceptance of Christianity in Rus' occurred at in 988. The major cause of the Christianization of Kievan Rus'
was the Grand-Duke, Vladimir the Great (Volodymyr). Conflict among the various principalities of Rus', in spite of the efforts of
Grand Prince Vladimir Monomakh, led to decline, beginning in the 12th century. Kiev was sacked by Vladimir principality (1169) in
the power struggle between princes and later by Cumans and Mongol raiders in the 12th and 13th centuries, respectively.
Subsequently, all principalities of present-day Ukraine acknowledged dependence upon the Mongols (1239-1240). In 1240 the
Mongols sacked Kiev. A successor state to Kievan Rus' on part of the territory of today's Ukraine was the principality of Halych-
Volynia. During this period (around 1200-1400) each principality was independent of the other for a period of time. During the 14th
century, Poland and Lithuania fought wars against the Mongol invaders, and eventually most of Ukraine passed to the rule of Poland
and Lithuania. After the Union of Lublin in 1569 and the formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Ukraine fell under
Polish administration, becoming part of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom. The 1648 Ukrainian Cossack (Kozak) rebellion and war
of independence (Khmelnytsky Uprising), which started an era known as the Ruin (in Polish history as The Deluge), undermined the
foundations and stability of the Commonwealth. The nascent Cossack state, the Zaporozhian Host, usually viewed as precursor of
Ukraine, found itself in a three-sided military and diplomatic rivalry with the Ottoman Turks, who controlled the Tatars to the south,
the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania, and the rising Russia to the East. Tsarist rule over central Ukraine gradually replaced
'protection' over the subsequent decades. After the Partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793 and 1795, the extreme west of Ukraine fell
under the control of the Austrians, with the rest being taken over by the Russians. As a result of Russo-Turkish Wars the Ottoman
Empire control receded from south-central Ukraine, while the rule of Hungary over the Transcarpathian region continued. When
World War I and the October Revolution in Russia shattered the Austrian and Russian empires, Ukrainians were caught in the
middle. Between 1917 and 1918, several separate Ukrainian republics manifested independence, the Tsentral'na Rada, the
Hetmanate, the Directorate, the Ukrainian People's Republic, the West Ukrainian People's Republic, and a Bolshevik government.
With the defeat in the Polish-Ukrainian War and then the failure of the Piłsudski's and Petliura's Kiev Operation, by the end of the
Polish-Soviet War after the Peace of Riga in March 1921, the western part of Galicia had been incorporated into Poland, and the
larger, central and eastern part became part of the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Ukrainian national
idea lived on during the inter-war years and was even spread to a large territory with traditionally mixed population in the east and
south that became part of the Ukrainian Soviet republic. To satisfy the state's need for increased food supplies and finance
industrialisation, Stalin instituted a program of collectivisation of agriculture, which profoundly affected Ukraine, often referred to as
the "breadbasket of the USSR". Following the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, in September 1939, German and Soviet troops divided
the territory of Poland, including Galicia with its Ukrainian population. Over the next decades the Ukrainian republic not only
surpassed pre-war levels of industry and production but also was the spearhead of Soviet power. The town of Pripyat, Ukraine
was the site of the Chernobyl accident, which occurred in April 26, 1986 when a nuclear plant exploded. Ukraine declared itself an
independent state on August 24, 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and was a founding member of the
Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 1, 1991 Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum formalizing
independence from the Soviet Union. The Union formally ceased to exist in December 25, 1991, and with this Ukraine's
independence was officially recognized by the international community. The history of Ukraine between 1991 and 2004 was
marked by the presidencies of Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma. This was a time of transition for Ukraine. Two major
candidates emerged in the 2004 presidential election. Viktor Yanukovych, the incumbent Prime Minister, supported by both
Kuchma and by the Russian Federation, wanted closer ties with Russia. The main opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, called
for Ukraine to turn its attention westward and eventually join the EU. In the runoff election, Yanukovych officially won by a narrow
margin, but Yushchenko and his supporters cried foul, alleging that vote rigging and intimidation cost him many votes, especially in
the eastern Ukraine. A political crisis erupted after the opposition started massive street protests in Kiev and other cities (Orange
Revolution), and the Supreme Court of Ukraine ordered the election results null and void. A second runoff found Viktor
Yushchenko the winner. 5 days later Viktor Yanukovych resigned from office and his cabinet was dismissed on January 5, 2005.
Relations between Russia and Ukraine sometimes appear strained. In 2005, a highly-publicized dispute over natural gas prices took
place, involving Russian state-owned gas supplier Gazprom, and indirectly involving many European countries which depend on
natural gas supplied by Russia through the Ukrainian pipeline. A compromise was reached in January 2006.
Source: Wikipedia: History of Ukraine
flourished from about 4500 BC to 3000 BC. The Copper Age people of the Trypillian culture were resided in the western part, and
the Sredny Stog further east, succeeded by the early Bronze Age Yamna ( "Kurgan") culture of the steppes, and by the Catacomb
culture in the 3rd millennium BC. During the Iron Age, these were followed by the Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, among other
nomadic peoples. The Scythian Kingdom existed here from 750 BC to 250 BC. Along with ancient Greek colonies founded from
the 6th century BC on the north-eastern shore of the Black Sea, the colonies of Tyras, Olbia, Hermonassa, perpetuated by Roman
and Byzantine cities until the 6th century AD. In the 3rd century AD, the Goths arrived in the lands of Ukraine around 250 AD to
375 AD, which they called Oium, corresponding to the archaeological Chernyakhov culture. The Ostrogoths stayed in the area but
came under the sway of the Huns from the 370s. North of the Ostrogothic kingdom was the Kiev culture, flourishing from the 2nd
to 5th centuries, when it was overrun by the Huns. After they helped defeat the Huns at the battle of Nedao in 454, the Ostrogoths
were allowed to settle in Pannonia. With the power vacuum created with the end of Hunnic and Gothic rule, Slavic tribes, possibly
emerging from the remnants of the Kiev culture, began to expand over much of what is now Ukraine during the 5th century, and
beyond to the Balkans from the 6th century. In the 7th century, the territory of modern Ukraine was the core of the state of the
Bulgars (often referred to as Great Bulgaria) with its capital city of Phanagoria. At the end of the 7th century, most Bulgar tribes
migrated in several directions and the remains of their state were absorbed by the Khazars, a semi-nomadic people from Central
Asia. The Khazars founded the Khazar kingdom in the southeastern part of today's Europe, near the Caspian Sea and the
Caucasus. The kingdom included western Kazakhstan, and parts of eastern Ukraine, Azerbaijan, southern Russia, and Crimea. Up
to the ninth century the land was dominated by the Khazars, the Turkic semi-nomadic people from Central Asia who adopted
Judaism. In the 9th century, Kiev was conquered from the Khazars by the Varangian noble Oleg who started the long period of rule
of the Rurikid princes. During this time, several Slavic tribes were native to Ukraine, including the Polans, the Drevlyans, the
Severians, the Ulichs, the Tiverians, and the Dulebes. Situated on lucrative trade routes, Kiev among the Polanians quickly
prospered as the center of the powerful Slavic state of Kievan Rus. In the 11th century, Kievan Rus' was, geographically, the
largest state in Europe, becoming known in the rest of Europe as Ruthenia (the Latin name for Rus', especially for western
principalities of Rus' after the Mongol invasion. The name "Ukraine", meaning "border-land" first appears in recorded history on
maps of the period. Although Christianity had made inroads into territory of Ukraine before the first ecumenical council, the Council
of Nicaea (325) (particularly along the Black Sea coast) and, in Western Ukraine during the time of empire of Great Moravia, the
formal governmental acceptance of Christianity in Rus' occurred at in 988. The major cause of the Christianization of Kievan Rus'
was the Grand-Duke, Vladimir the Great (Volodymyr). Conflict among the various principalities of Rus', in spite of the efforts of
Grand Prince Vladimir Monomakh, led to decline, beginning in the 12th century. Kiev was sacked by Vladimir principality (1169) in
the power struggle between princes and later by Cumans and Mongol raiders in the 12th and 13th centuries, respectively.
Subsequently, all principalities of present-day Ukraine acknowledged dependence upon the Mongols (1239-1240). In 1240 the
Mongols sacked Kiev. A successor state to Kievan Rus' on part of the territory of today's Ukraine was the principality of Halych-
Volynia. During this period (around 1200-1400) each principality was independent of the other for a period of time. During the 14th
century, Poland and Lithuania fought wars against the Mongol invaders, and eventually most of Ukraine passed to the rule of Poland
and Lithuania. After the Union of Lublin in 1569 and the formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Ukraine fell under
Polish administration, becoming part of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom. The 1648 Ukrainian Cossack (Kozak) rebellion and war
of independence (Khmelnytsky Uprising), which started an era known as the Ruin (in Polish history as The Deluge), undermined the
foundations and stability of the Commonwealth. The nascent Cossack state, the Zaporozhian Host, usually viewed as precursor of
Ukraine, found itself in a three-sided military and diplomatic rivalry with the Ottoman Turks, who controlled the Tatars to the south,
the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania, and the rising Russia to the East. Tsarist rule over central Ukraine gradually replaced
'protection' over the subsequent decades. After the Partitions of Poland in 1772, 1793 and 1795, the extreme west of Ukraine fell
under the control of the Austrians, with the rest being taken over by the Russians. As a result of Russo-Turkish Wars the Ottoman
Empire control receded from south-central Ukraine, while the rule of Hungary over the Transcarpathian region continued. When
World War I and the October Revolution in Russia shattered the Austrian and Russian empires, Ukrainians were caught in the
middle. Between 1917 and 1918, several separate Ukrainian republics manifested independence, the Tsentral'na Rada, the
Hetmanate, the Directorate, the Ukrainian People's Republic, the West Ukrainian People's Republic, and a Bolshevik government.
With the defeat in the Polish-Ukrainian War and then the failure of the Piłsudski's and Petliura's Kiev Operation, by the end of the
Polish-Soviet War after the Peace of Riga in March 1921, the western part of Galicia had been incorporated into Poland, and the
larger, central and eastern part became part of the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Ukrainian national
idea lived on during the inter-war years and was even spread to a large territory with traditionally mixed population in the east and
south that became part of the Ukrainian Soviet republic. To satisfy the state's need for increased food supplies and finance
industrialisation, Stalin instituted a program of collectivisation of agriculture, which profoundly affected Ukraine, often referred to as
the "breadbasket of the USSR". Following the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact, in September 1939, German and Soviet troops divided
the territory of Poland, including Galicia with its Ukrainian population. Over the next decades the Ukrainian republic not only
surpassed pre-war levels of industry and production but also was the spearhead of Soviet power. The town of Pripyat, Ukraine
was the site of the Chernobyl accident, which occurred in April 26, 1986 when a nuclear plant exploded. Ukraine declared itself an
independent state on August 24, 1991, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and was a founding member of the
Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 1, 1991 Ukrainian voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum formalizing
independence from the Soviet Union. The Union formally ceased to exist in December 25, 1991, and with this Ukraine's
independence was officially recognized by the international community. The history of Ukraine between 1991 and 2004 was
marked by the presidencies of Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma. This was a time of transition for Ukraine. Two major
candidates emerged in the 2004 presidential election. Viktor Yanukovych, the incumbent Prime Minister, supported by both
Kuchma and by the Russian Federation, wanted closer ties with Russia. The main opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, called
for Ukraine to turn its attention westward and eventually join the EU. In the runoff election, Yanukovych officially won by a narrow
margin, but Yushchenko and his supporters cried foul, alleging that vote rigging and intimidation cost him many votes, especially in
the eastern Ukraine. A political crisis erupted after the opposition started massive street protests in Kiev and other cities (Orange
Revolution), and the Supreme Court of Ukraine ordered the election results null and void. A second runoff found Viktor
Yushchenko the winner. 5 days later Viktor Yanukovych resigned from office and his cabinet was dismissed on January 5, 2005.
Relations between Russia and Ukraine sometimes appear strained. In 2005, a highly-publicized dispute over natural gas prices took
place, involving Russian state-owned gas supplier Gazprom, and indirectly involving many European countries which depend on
natural gas supplied by Russia through the Ukrainian pipeline. A compromise was reached in January 2006.
Source: Wikipedia: History of Ukraine
| ECONOMIC OVERVIEW |
After Russia, the Ukrainian republic was far and away the most important economic component of the former Soviet Union,
producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet
agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its
diversified heavy industry supplied the unique equipment (for example, large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and
mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the former USSR. Shortly after independence in August 1991, the
Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform
within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to
less than 40% of the 1991 level. Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform
have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Ukraine depends on imports to meet about three-fourths of its
annual oil and natural gas requirements and 100% of its nuclear fuel needs. After a two-week dispute that saw gas supplies cutoff to
Europe, Ukraine agreed to ten-year gas supply and transit contracts with Russia in January 2009 that brought gas prices to "world"
levels. The strict terms of the contracts have further hobbled Ukraine's cash-strapped state gas company, Naftohaz. Outside
institutions - particularly the IMF - have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms. Ukrainian Government
officials eliminated most tax and customs privileges in a March 2005 budget law, bringing more economic activity out of Ukraine's
large shadow economy, but more improvements are needed, including fighting corruption, developing capital markets, and
improving the legislative framework. Ukraine's economy was buoyant despite political turmoil between the prime minister and
president until mid-2008. Real GDP growth exceeded 7% in 2006-07, fueled by high global prices for steel - Ukraine's top export
- and by strong domestic consumption, spurred by rising pensions and wages. The drop in steel prices and Ukraine's exposure to
the global financial crisis due to aggressive foreign borrowing lowered growth in 2008 and the economy contracted more than 14%
in 2009, among the worst economic performances in the world. Ukraine reached an agreement with the IMF for a $16.4 billion
Stand-By Arrangement in November 2008 to deal with the economic crisis, but the Ukrainian Government's lack of progress in
implementing reforms has twice delayed the release of IMF assistance funds. Political turmoil in Ukraine as well as deteriorating
external conditions are likely to hamper efforts for economic recovery.
Source: CIA World Factbook (select Ukraine)
producing about four times the output of the next-ranking republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of Soviet
agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its
diversified heavy industry supplied the unique equipment (for example, large diameter pipes) and raw materials to industrial and
mining sites (vertical drilling apparatus) in other regions of the former USSR. Shortly after independence in August 1991, the
Ukrainian Government liberalized most prices and erected a legal framework for privatization, but widespread resistance to reform
within the government and the legislature soon stalled reform efforts and led to some backtracking. Output by 1999 had fallen to
less than 40% of the 1991 level. Ukraine's dependence on Russia for energy supplies and the lack of significant structural reform
have made the Ukrainian economy vulnerable to external shocks. Ukraine depends on imports to meet about three-fourths of its
annual oil and natural gas requirements and 100% of its nuclear fuel needs. After a two-week dispute that saw gas supplies cutoff to
Europe, Ukraine agreed to ten-year gas supply and transit contracts with Russia in January 2009 that brought gas prices to "world"
levels. The strict terms of the contracts have further hobbled Ukraine's cash-strapped state gas company, Naftohaz. Outside
institutions - particularly the IMF - have encouraged Ukraine to quicken the pace and scope of reforms. Ukrainian Government
officials eliminated most tax and customs privileges in a March 2005 budget law, bringing more economic activity out of Ukraine's
large shadow economy, but more improvements are needed, including fighting corruption, developing capital markets, and
improving the legislative framework. Ukraine's economy was buoyant despite political turmoil between the prime minister and
president until mid-2008. Real GDP growth exceeded 7% in 2006-07, fueled by high global prices for steel - Ukraine's top export
- and by strong domestic consumption, spurred by rising pensions and wages. The drop in steel prices and Ukraine's exposure to
the global financial crisis due to aggressive foreign borrowing lowered growth in 2008 and the economy contracted more than 14%
in 2009, among the worst economic performances in the world. Ukraine reached an agreement with the IMF for a $16.4 billion
Stand-By Arrangement in November 2008 to deal with the economic crisis, but the Ukrainian Government's lack of progress in
implementing reforms has twice delayed the release of IMF assistance funds. Political turmoil in Ukraine as well as deteriorating
external conditions are likely to hamper efforts for economic recovery.
Source: CIA World Factbook (select Ukraine)
| POLITICAL CLIMATE |
The Ukrainian presidential election of 2010 is Ukraine's fifth presidential election since declaring independence from the Soviet
Union in 1991. The first round was held on January 17, 2010. The run-off between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and
opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych followed on February 7, 2010.
On February 14, Viktor Yanukovych, with 48.95% of the popular vote, was declared President-elect and winner of the 2010
Ukrainian Presidential election. According to Article 104 of Ukraine's Constitution the President must be sworn into office within 30
days from the official declaration of the poll before the Ukrainian parliament.The Ukrainian Parliament has scheduled Yanukovych's
inaugurated Yanukovych on February 25, 2010.
On February 17, 2010, the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, suspended the results of the election on appeal from Mrs.
Tymoshenko. The court suspended the Central Election Commission of Ukraine ruling that announced that Viktor Yanukovych won
the election, but did not postpone or cancel Mr. Yanukovych’s inauguration. Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal on February 20,
2010.
Source: Wikipedia: Politics of Ukraine
Union in 1991. The first round was held on January 17, 2010. The run-off between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and
opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych followed on February 7, 2010.
On February 14, Viktor Yanukovych, with 48.95% of the popular vote, was declared President-elect and winner of the 2010
Ukrainian Presidential election. According to Article 104 of Ukraine's Constitution the President must be sworn into office within 30
days from the official declaration of the poll before the Ukrainian parliament.The Ukrainian Parliament has scheduled Yanukovych's
inaugurated Yanukovych on February 25, 2010.
On February 17, 2010, the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, suspended the results of the election on appeal from Mrs.
Tymoshenko. The court suspended the Central Election Commission of Ukraine ruling that announced that Viktor Yanukovych won
the election, but did not postpone or cancel Mr. Yanukovych’s inauguration. Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal on February 20,
2010.
Source: Wikipedia: Politics of Ukraine
| INTERNATIONAL DISPUTES |
1997 boundary delimitation treaty with Belarus remains un-ratified due to unresolved financial claims, stalling demarcation and
reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia is complete with preparations for demarcation underway; the
dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a
December 2003 framework agreement and ongoing expert-level discussions; Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to
monitor transit of people and commodities through Moldova's break-away Transnistria Region, which remains under OSCE
supervision; the ICJ gave Ukraine until December 2006 to reply, and Romania until June 2007 to rejoin, in their dispute submitted in
2004 over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy/Serpilor (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary; Romania opposes
Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea.
reducing border security; delimitation of land boundary with Russia is complete with preparations for demarcation underway; the
dispute over the boundary between Russia and Ukraine through the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov remains unresolved despite a
December 2003 framework agreement and ongoing expert-level discussions; Moldova and Ukraine operate joint customs posts to
monitor transit of people and commodities through Moldova's break-away Transnistria Region, which remains under OSCE
supervision; the ICJ gave Ukraine until December 2006 to reply, and Romania until June 2007 to rejoin, in their dispute submitted in
2004 over Ukrainian-administered Zmiyinyy/Serpilor (Snake) Island and Black Sea maritime boundary; Romania opposes
Ukraine's reopening of a navigation canal from the Danube border through Ukraine to the Black Sea.
| REFUGEES AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPS) |
None reported.
| ILLICIT DRUGS |
Limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; some synthetic drug production for export to the
West; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa, Latin
America, and Turkey to Europe and Russia; Ukraine has improved anti-money-laundering controls, resulting in its removal from
the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and Territories List in February 2004; Ukraine's
anti-money-laundering regime continues to be monitored by FATF.
West; limited government eradication program; used as transshipment point for opiates and other illicit drugs from Africa, Latin
America, and Turkey to Europe and Russia; Ukraine has improved anti-money-laundering controls, resulting in its removal from
the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF's) Noncooperative Countries and Territories List in February 2004; Ukraine's
anti-money-laundering regime continues to be monitored by FATF.
| HUMAN RIGHTS STATEMENTS, ANALYSIS AND CRITIQUES |
2009 Human Rights Reports: Ukraine
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
March 11, 2010
Ukraine, with a population of 46 million, is a multiparty, democratic republic with a parliamentary-presidential system of government.
Executive authority is shared by a directly elected president and a unicameral Verkhovna Rada (parliament), which selects a prime
minister as head of government. Elections in 2007 for the 450-seat parliament were considered free and fair. A presidential election is
scheduled for January 2010. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
Human rights problems included:
During the year the government established the Office of the Governmental Commissioner for Anticorruption Policy, and the Ministry of
Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office introduced a new system to improve the recording of hate-motivated crimes.
Click here to read more »
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
2009 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
March 11, 2010
Ukraine, with a population of 46 million, is a multiparty, democratic republic with a parliamentary-presidential system of government.
Executive authority is shared by a directly elected president and a unicameral Verkhovna Rada (parliament), which selects a prime
minister as head of government. Elections in 2007 for the 450-seat parliament were considered free and fair. A presidential election is
scheduled for January 2010. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.
Human rights problems included:
- reports of serious police abuse, beatings, and torture of detainees and prisoners;
- harsh conditions in prisons and detention facilities;
- arbitrary and lengthy pretrial detention;
- an inefficient and corrupt judicial system;
- and incidents of anti-Semitism.
- Corruption in the government and society was widespread.
- There was violence and discrimination against women, children, Roma, Crimean Tatars, and persons of non-Slavic appearance.
- Trafficking in persons continued to be a serious problem,
- there were reports of police harassment of the gay community.
- Workers continued to face limitations to form and join unions, and to bargain collectively.
During the year the government established the Office of the Governmental Commissioner for Anticorruption Policy, and the Ministry of
Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General's Office introduced a new system to improve the recording of hate-motivated crimes.
Click here to read more »
5 February 2010
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Forty-fifth session
18 January-5 February 2010
Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Ukraine
Introduction
2. The Committee expresses its appreciation to the State party for its combined sixth and seventh periodic report, which complies with
the guidelines for the preparation of reports and has taken into account the Committee’s previous concluding observations. The
Committee commends the State party for the written replies to the list of issues and questions raised by the pre-session working group
and for the oral presentation and responses to the questions posed by the Committee. The Committee also notes with appreciation the
additional material related to gender equality distributed to Committee members during the session.
Positive aspects
5. The Committee notes with appreciation the ratification by the State party, in September 2003, of the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
6. The Committee welcomes the adoption by the Parliament of Ukraine, on 8 September 2005, of the Equal Rights and Opportunities
Act, which entered into force in January 2006, with the purpose of achieving equality between women and men in all areas of society.
Principal areas of concern and recommendations
10. The Committee recalls the State party’s obligation to systematically and continuously implement all the provisions of the Convention,
and views the concerns and recommendations identified in the present concluding observations as requiring the State party’s priority
attention from this date until the submission of the next periodic report. Consequently, the Committee urges the State party to focus on
those areas in its implementation activities and to report on action taken and results achieved in its next periodic report. It calls upon the
State party to submit the present concluding observations to all relevant ministries, to the Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) and to the
judiciary in order to ensure their full implementation.
Parliaments
11. While reaffirming that the Government has the primary responsibility and is in particular accountable for the full implementation of
the State party’s obligations under the Convention, the Committee stresses that the Convention is binding on all branches of Government,
and it invites the State party to encourage its national parliament (Verkhovna Rada), in line with its mandate and procedures, where
appropriate, to take the necessary steps with regard to the implementation of these concluding observations and the Government’s next
reporting process under the Convention.
Click here to read more »
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Forty-fifth session
18 January-5 February 2010
Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Ukraine
Introduction
2. The Committee expresses its appreciation to the State party for its combined sixth and seventh periodic report, which complies with
the guidelines for the preparation of reports and has taken into account the Committee’s previous concluding observations. The
Committee commends the State party for the written replies to the list of issues and questions raised by the pre-session working group
and for the oral presentation and responses to the questions posed by the Committee. The Committee also notes with appreciation the
additional material related to gender equality distributed to Committee members during the session.
Positive aspects
5. The Committee notes with appreciation the ratification by the State party, in September 2003, of the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
6. The Committee welcomes the adoption by the Parliament of Ukraine, on 8 September 2005, of the Equal Rights and Opportunities
Act, which entered into force in January 2006, with the purpose of achieving equality between women and men in all areas of society.
Principal areas of concern and recommendations
10. The Committee recalls the State party’s obligation to systematically and continuously implement all the provisions of the Convention,
and views the concerns and recommendations identified in the present concluding observations as requiring the State party’s priority
attention from this date until the submission of the next periodic report. Consequently, the Committee urges the State party to focus on
those areas in its implementation activities and to report on action taken and results achieved in its next periodic report. It calls upon the
State party to submit the present concluding observations to all relevant ministries, to the Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) and to the
judiciary in order to ensure their full implementation.
Parliaments
11. While reaffirming that the Government has the primary responsibility and is in particular accountable for the full implementation of
the State party’s obligations under the Convention, the Committee stresses that the Convention is binding on all branches of Government,
and it invites the State party to encourage its national parliament (Verkhovna Rada), in line with its mandate and procedures, where
appropriate, to take the necessary steps with regard to the implementation of these concluding observations and the Government’s next
reporting process under the Convention.
Click here to read more »
Freedom In The World 2010 Report
Political Rights Score: 3
Civil Liberties Score: 2
Status: Free
Overview
Infighting among Ukraine’s top politicians ahead of the 2010 presidential election left key offices vacant for many months in 2009, and
populist fiscal policies further jeopardized the country’s economy amid a serious global recession. Perceptions of widespread corruption
grew, although the exclusion of a suspicious intermediary company from gas deals between Russia and Ukraine indicated some
progress. Also during the year, the authorities arrested a key suspect in the 2000 murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, but
investigators had yet to identify the officials who ordered the killing. Despite its numerous problems, Ukraine continued to boast a vibrant
civil society and a pluralistic political environment.
Yanukovych quickly sought to limit Yushchenko’s power as president, targeting his ability to control foreign and national security
policies. After a period of considerable infighting, Yushchenko dissolved the parliament in April 2007 and was ultimately able to schedule
new elections on September 30. The Party of the Regions won 175 seats, followed by the Tymoshenko Bloc with 156 seats and the Our
Ukraine–People’s Self-Defense bloc with 72. The Communist Party won 27 seats, and the Lytvyn Bloc secured 20. Voter participation
was 62 percent. Tymoshenko returned to the premiership in December, thanks to a restoration of the Orange alliance.
Despite the new alignment of forces, the power struggle between president and prime minister continued unabated in 2008 and 2009, as
both leaders—along with Yanukovych—eyed the presidential election set for January 2010. Battles among these rivals left many key
ministerial posts vacant for long periods in 2009, and at the instigation of the prime minister, the courts invalidated presidential decrees
appointing governors and local leaders. The political strife also affected the media, as a Kyiv court banned any “unfair advertisements”
against Tymoshenko in September.
Meanwhile, the global recession continued to weigh on Ukraine’s export-dependent economy, which contracted by roughly 15 percent in
2009. With the election approaching, the government failed to launch unpopular but necessary reforms, such as raising domestic natural
gas prices by cutting existing subsidies, and instead worsened its fiscal position by increasing wages and pensions. The International
Monetary Fund had called for greater fiscal discipline when it provided a crucial $16.5 billion loan to prop up the economy in late 2008.
Ukraine is an electoral democracy. Massive citizen protests and a court-ordered rerun thwarted an attempt to rig the 2004 presidential
election, and parliamentary elections in 2006 and 2007 were deemed free and fair, with only minor polling-place violations.
Click here to read more »
Political Rights Score: 3
Civil Liberties Score: 2
Status: Free
Overview
Infighting among Ukraine’s top politicians ahead of the 2010 presidential election left key offices vacant for many months in 2009, and
populist fiscal policies further jeopardized the country’s economy amid a serious global recession. Perceptions of widespread corruption
grew, although the exclusion of a suspicious intermediary company from gas deals between Russia and Ukraine indicated some
progress. Also during the year, the authorities arrested a key suspect in the 2000 murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, but
investigators had yet to identify the officials who ordered the killing. Despite its numerous problems, Ukraine continued to boast a vibrant
civil society and a pluralistic political environment.
Yanukovych quickly sought to limit Yushchenko’s power as president, targeting his ability to control foreign and national security
policies. After a period of considerable infighting, Yushchenko dissolved the parliament in April 2007 and was ultimately able to schedule
new elections on September 30. The Party of the Regions won 175 seats, followed by the Tymoshenko Bloc with 156 seats and the Our
Ukraine–People’s Self-Defense bloc with 72. The Communist Party won 27 seats, and the Lytvyn Bloc secured 20. Voter participation
was 62 percent. Tymoshenko returned to the premiership in December, thanks to a restoration of the Orange alliance.
Despite the new alignment of forces, the power struggle between president and prime minister continued unabated in 2008 and 2009, as
both leaders—along with Yanukovych—eyed the presidential election set for January 2010. Battles among these rivals left many key
ministerial posts vacant for long periods in 2009, and at the instigation of the prime minister, the courts invalidated presidential decrees
appointing governors and local leaders. The political strife also affected the media, as a Kyiv court banned any “unfair advertisements”
against Tymoshenko in September.
Meanwhile, the global recession continued to weigh on Ukraine’s export-dependent economy, which contracted by roughly 15 percent in
2009. With the election approaching, the government failed to launch unpopular but necessary reforms, such as raising domestic natural
gas prices by cutting existing subsidies, and instead worsened its fiscal position by increasing wages and pensions. The International
Monetary Fund had called for greater fiscal discipline when it provided a crucial $16.5 billion loan to prop up the economy in late 2008.
Ukraine is an electoral democracy. Massive citizen protests and a court-ordered rerun thwarted an attempt to rig the 2004 presidential
election, and parliamentary elections in 2006 and 2007 were deemed free and fair, with only minor polling-place violations.
Click here to read more »
Ukraine: Further information: Activist faces forced psychiatric examination
Date: 08 December 2010
URGENT ACTION
Ukrainian trade union activist Andrei Bondarenko has now been ordered to undergo a forced psychiatric examination on 13 December.
He fears that he might be administered drugs or even detained against his will as a result of the examination.
Andrei Bondarenko, who has no record of mental illness, was ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination by the Court in Vinnytsya,
south west Ukraine on 29 October 2010. The Appeal Court upheld this ruling on 23 November; subsequently Andrei Bondarenko
appealed against this decision to the High Court on Criminal and Civil Cases. Although no date was set for the hearing in the High Court,
Andrei Bondarenko has already received a summons from the Vinnytsa Region Psycho-neurological Hospital dated 2 December to
undergo a psychiatric examination on 13 December. If he does not attend the examination voluntary on 13 December, he will be forced
to undergo the examination the following day.
Amnesty International is concerned that any such examination within the Vinnytsya Region would not be impartial and therefore
maintains its call that any examination should be outside the Vinnytsya Region, with the participation of a psychiatrist from the Ukrainian
Psychiatric Association and the World Psychiatric Association.
Andrei Bondarenko has no record of mental illness and has undergone three psychiatric examinations to prove his sanity, the most recent
of which was in October 2010. Among the reasons quoted by prosecutors for him to be examined is his “excessive awareness of his
own and others’ rights and his uncontrollable readiness to defend these rights in unrealistic ways”.
In 2007, the Vinnytsya Prosecutor’s Office twice asked local health authority officials in Vinnytsya to request forced psychiatric
examinations of Andrei Bondarenko. The first request was turned down by a judge in July 2007 on the basis that the hospital had not
formulated the request correctly. The second request was turned down in August of the same year after Andrei Bondarenko went to a
psychiatrist in Vinnytsya regional hospital and received a certificate stating that he was sane.
In January 2009, he was detained outside his house and charged with refusing to show his identity documents to the police. He was
sentenced to 10 days administrative detention, but on the seventh day he was again taken to civic court where a third request for a
psychiatric examination was presented by the regional psychiatric hospital. The hospital claimed that Andrei Bondarenko had previously
requested a psychiatric consultation, although he denies this, and presented a document allowing the hospital’s doctors to represent the
interests of Andrei Bondarenko at the court hearing. However, this third request was turned down by the court.
Click here to read more »
Date: 08 December 2010
URGENT ACTION
Ukrainian trade union activist Andrei Bondarenko has now been ordered to undergo a forced psychiatric examination on 13 December.
He fears that he might be administered drugs or even detained against his will as a result of the examination.
Andrei Bondarenko, who has no record of mental illness, was ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination by the Court in Vinnytsya,
south west Ukraine on 29 October 2010. The Appeal Court upheld this ruling on 23 November; subsequently Andrei Bondarenko
appealed against this decision to the High Court on Criminal and Civil Cases. Although no date was set for the hearing in the High Court,
Andrei Bondarenko has already received a summons from the Vinnytsa Region Psycho-neurological Hospital dated 2 December to
undergo a psychiatric examination on 13 December. If he does not attend the examination voluntary on 13 December, he will be forced
to undergo the examination the following day.
Amnesty International is concerned that any such examination within the Vinnytsya Region would not be impartial and therefore
maintains its call that any examination should be outside the Vinnytsya Region, with the participation of a psychiatrist from the Ukrainian
Psychiatric Association and the World Psychiatric Association.
Andrei Bondarenko has no record of mental illness and has undergone three psychiatric examinations to prove his sanity, the most recent
of which was in October 2010. Among the reasons quoted by prosecutors for him to be examined is his “excessive awareness of his
own and others’ rights and his uncontrollable readiness to defend these rights in unrealistic ways”.
In 2007, the Vinnytsya Prosecutor’s Office twice asked local health authority officials in Vinnytsya to request forced psychiatric
examinations of Andrei Bondarenko. The first request was turned down by a judge in July 2007 on the basis that the hospital had not
formulated the request correctly. The second request was turned down in August of the same year after Andrei Bondarenko went to a
psychiatrist in Vinnytsya regional hospital and received a certificate stating that he was sane.
In January 2009, he was detained outside his house and charged with refusing to show his identity documents to the police. He was
sentenced to 10 days administrative detention, but on the seventh day he was again taken to civic court where a third request for a
psychiatric examination was presented by the regional psychiatric hospital. The hospital claimed that Andrei Bondarenko had previously
requested a psychiatric consultation, although he denies this, and presented a document allowing the hospital’s doctors to represent the
interests of Andrei Bondarenko at the court hearing. However, this third request was turned down by the court.
Click here to read more »
Ukraine: Migrants and Asylum Seekers Tortured, Mistreated
EU Ignoring Abuse of Those Sent Back, Lack of Protection for Refugees and Children
December 16, 2010
(Kyiv) - Migrants and asylum seekers, including children, risk abusive treatment and arbitrary detention at the hands of Ukrainian border
guards and police, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Some migrants recounted how officials tortured them, including
with electric shocks, after they were apprehended trying to cross into the European Union or following their deportation from Slovakia
and Hungary.
The 124-page report, "Buffeted in the Borderland: The Treatment of Asylum Seekers and Migrants in Ukraine," is based on interviews
with 161 refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers in Ukraine, Slovakia, and Hungary. It shows that although some conditions in migration
detention facilities have improved, Ukraine subjects many migrants to inhuman and degrading treatment and has been unable or unwilling
to provide effective protection for refugees and asylum seekers.
"EU states are returning people to Ukraine to face abuse," said Bill Frelick, Refugee Program director at Human Rights Watch and a
co-author of the report. "Despite a readmission deal and money the EU has poured in, Ukraine apparently isn't up to the task of
respecting the migrants' rights and protecting refugees."
The readmission agreement between the EU and Ukraine that came into force on January 1, 2010, provides for the return of
third-country nationals who enter the EU from Ukraine. In recent years, the EU has spent millions of Euros to improve Ukraine's
migration and asylum system.
But Human Rights Watch noted that neither the agreement nor that funding absolve EU member states of their obligations under the EU
charter of fundamental rights to provide access to asylum and not to return people to face torture or ill-treatment or of the EU members'
responsibilities toward unaccompanied children.
More than half of the migrants interviewed who had been returned from Slovakia and Hungary said that they were beaten or subjected to
ill-treatment in Ukraine. Most had tried to seek asylum in Hungary or Slovakia, but said their claims had been ignored and they were
quickly expelled. Both countries also expelled unaccompanied children.
Click here to read more »
EU Ignoring Abuse of Those Sent Back, Lack of Protection for Refugees and Children
December 16, 2010
(Kyiv) - Migrants and asylum seekers, including children, risk abusive treatment and arbitrary detention at the hands of Ukrainian border
guards and police, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Some migrants recounted how officials tortured them, including
with electric shocks, after they were apprehended trying to cross into the European Union or following their deportation from Slovakia
and Hungary.
The 124-page report, "Buffeted in the Borderland: The Treatment of Asylum Seekers and Migrants in Ukraine," is based on interviews
with 161 refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers in Ukraine, Slovakia, and Hungary. It shows that although some conditions in migration
detention facilities have improved, Ukraine subjects many migrants to inhuman and degrading treatment and has been unable or unwilling
to provide effective protection for refugees and asylum seekers.
"EU states are returning people to Ukraine to face abuse," said Bill Frelick, Refugee Program director at Human Rights Watch and a
co-author of the report. "Despite a readmission deal and money the EU has poured in, Ukraine apparently isn't up to the task of
respecting the migrants' rights and protecting refugees."
The readmission agreement between the EU and Ukraine that came into force on January 1, 2010, provides for the return of
third-country nationals who enter the EU from Ukraine. In recent years, the EU has spent millions of Euros to improve Ukraine's
migration and asylum system.
But Human Rights Watch noted that neither the agreement nor that funding absolve EU member states of their obligations under the EU
charter of fundamental rights to provide access to asylum and not to return people to face torture or ill-treatment or of the EU members'
responsibilities toward unaccompanied children.
More than half of the migrants interviewed who had been returned from Slovakia and Hungary said that they were beaten or subjected to
ill-treatment in Ukraine. Most had tried to seek asylum in Hungary or Slovakia, but said their claims had been ignored and they were
quickly expelled. Both countries also expelled unaccompanied children.
Click here to read more »
23.09.2010 21:15
Press office of President Viktor Yanukovych
Statement by the President of Ukraine at the General Debate of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ukraine approaches with full responsibility the issues of poverty eradication, providing high-quality education, developing proper
conditions for preservation of environment, improving maternal health and reducing child mortality, curbing HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis,
and ensuring gender equality.
Our achievements as well as problems we face are laid out in the National Report on implementation of the Millennium Development
Goals which we have presented at the Summit.
Today my country undergoes profound internal changes. We have finally achieved political stability and launched comprehensive
economic and social reforms.
The principles of peaceful coexistence, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of the UN Member States, good neighborly
relations and equality have always been the cornerstone of Ukraine's foreign policy.
We believe that the spirit and letter of the UN Charter is the foundation for any regional agreements and arrangements in the area of
security architecture.
Next year the world will commemorate a sad date, the 25th anniversary of the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. That
tragedy is still an open wound for us.
Overcoming its consequences remains a serious challenge for the international community as the scale of the problems requires a
coordinated effort involving all of our international partners.
Ukraine stands ready to discuss all progressive concepts of the UN Security Council reform. We believe that the key to success is to
take into account the interests of all the under-represented regional groups, including the East European one.
I would like to use this opportunity to confirm Ukraine's intention to acquire membership in the Security Council for the period of
2016-2017.
Click here to read more »
Press office of President Viktor Yanukovych
Statement by the President of Ukraine at the General Debate of the 65th session of the UN General Assembly
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ukraine approaches with full responsibility the issues of poverty eradication, providing high-quality education, developing proper
conditions for preservation of environment, improving maternal health and reducing child mortality, curbing HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis,
and ensuring gender equality.
Our achievements as well as problems we face are laid out in the National Report on implementation of the Millennium Development
Goals which we have presented at the Summit.
Today my country undergoes profound internal changes. We have finally achieved political stability and launched comprehensive
economic and social reforms.
The principles of peaceful coexistence, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of the UN Member States, good neighborly
relations and equality have always been the cornerstone of Ukraine's foreign policy.
We believe that the spirit and letter of the UN Charter is the foundation for any regional agreements and arrangements in the area of
security architecture.
Next year the world will commemorate a sad date, the 25th anniversary of the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant. That
tragedy is still an open wound for us.
Overcoming its consequences remains a serious challenge for the international community as the scale of the problems requires a
coordinated effort involving all of our international partners.
Ukraine stands ready to discuss all progressive concepts of the UN Security Council reform. We believe that the key to success is to
take into account the interests of all the under-represented regional groups, including the East European one.
I would like to use this opportunity to confirm Ukraine's intention to acquire membership in the Security Council for the period of
2016-2017.
Click here to read more »
TRANSLATED FROM RUSSIAN BY GOOGLE TRANSLATE
December 21, 2010
Karpachova: "The urgent task of the state - reliably ensure human rights in the internal affairs"
December 20, 2010, the Day of Ukrainian police, the Human Rights Ombudsman Nina Karpachova made a submission to the Prime
Minister Mykola Azarov, which proposes to take action on the resumption of the rights of employees of the Interior on the state social
security guarantees.
Often criticize the actions of individual officials of the Interior, and lead to gross violations of human rights, the Ombudsman of Ukraine
is doing its utmost to protect the rights of police officers themselves, adequately performing their duties in maintaining public order, even
in the face of inadequate funding and logistical support, often price of enormous efforts, and sometimes life itself.
Statistics tragedies shows that the number of dead police officers for years of independence, Ukraine is close to one thousand. Only a
third of them are presumed dead in the protection of public order and combating crime, and their families receive public assistance.
With respect to the families of policemen killed on duty, acts discriminatory provisions of Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine "On Militia",
which leaves these families without assistance. In this regard, Karpachova considers it necessary to consider urgently in parliament a bill
on amending some legislative acts of Ukraine on social protection from 21 October 2010, which should provide adequate payments to
police officers for damage to their lives and health.
Noting that in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Militia" the state has undertaken to guarantee social protection for employees of
the Interior, the Ombudsman of Ukraine, as the subject of civilian control over the Military organization and law enforcement agencies in
the state, states: state of the rights of those soldiers and officers the bodies of internal affairs in Ukraine still does not meet the
requirements of applicable law. In its submission to the head of the Government Commissioner for Human Rights to take measures to
resume the human police officers on state guarantees of social protection.
Karpachova hopes that the government will heed the suggestions of the Ombudsman to improve the state of human rights in the work of
the Interior.
Click here to read more »
December 21, 2010
Karpachova: "The urgent task of the state - reliably ensure human rights in the internal affairs"
December 20, 2010, the Day of Ukrainian police, the Human Rights Ombudsman Nina Karpachova made a submission to the Prime
Minister Mykola Azarov, which proposes to take action on the resumption of the rights of employees of the Interior on the state social
security guarantees.
Often criticize the actions of individual officials of the Interior, and lead to gross violations of human rights, the Ombudsman of Ukraine
is doing its utmost to protect the rights of police officers themselves, adequately performing their duties in maintaining public order, even
in the face of inadequate funding and logistical support, often price of enormous efforts, and sometimes life itself.
Statistics tragedies shows that the number of dead police officers for years of independence, Ukraine is close to one thousand. Only a
third of them are presumed dead in the protection of public order and combating crime, and their families receive public assistance.
With respect to the families of policemen killed on duty, acts discriminatory provisions of Article 23 of the Law of Ukraine "On Militia",
which leaves these families without assistance. In this regard, Karpachova considers it necessary to consider urgently in parliament a bill
on amending some legislative acts of Ukraine on social protection from 21 October 2010, which should provide adequate payments to
police officers for damage to their lives and health.
Noting that in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Militia" the state has undertaken to guarantee social protection for employees of
the Interior, the Ombudsman of Ukraine, as the subject of civilian control over the Military organization and law enforcement agencies in
the state, states: state of the rights of those soldiers and officers the bodies of internal affairs in Ukraine still does not meet the
requirements of applicable law. In its submission to the head of the Government Commissioner for Human Rights to take measures to
resume the human police officers on state guarantees of social protection.
Karpachova hopes that the government will heed the suggestions of the Ombudsman to improve the state of human rights in the work of
the Interior.
Click here to read more »
21.12.2010 | Freedom of peaceful assembly
source: www.radiosvoboda.org
Crimean law enforcement officers target a Mejlis activist
The Crimean Prosecutor’s Office has brought charges of resisting the police against the Head of the Secretariat of the Mejlis of the
Crimean Tatar People, Zair Smedlyaev. Over the case initiated after a rally of Crimean Tatars in 2006, he could face 4 years
imprisonment.
The Prosecutor’s Office says that he is accused of taking part in mass disturbances and resistance to the people. The criminal
investigation dates from 2006 yet the Prosecutor’s Office reanimated it a few months ago, and has brought it to the courts extremely
quickly.
The Head of the Secretariat, who is considered Refat Chubarov’s right hand man, is alleged by the Prosecutor’s Office to have taken
part in a picket on 22 June 2006 outside the Crimean Court of Appeal. A group of Crimean Tatars had been charged with attacking and
beating journalists from several television channels, as well as visitors to the Simferopol bar, the Cotton Club, in 2003.
After it was announced that due to lack of space, nobody could come in, there were disturbances and people tried to force their way in,
leading to scuffles with the police, resulting in several of the latter, apparently, receiving injuries.
There has been no official response from the Mejlis. Zair Smedlyaev told Radio Svoboda that he sees a political and ethnic subtext to the
Prosecutor’s Office’s actions.
“I view this criminal investigation as politically commission. It is an attempt to intimidate the entire Crimean Tatar people, all ordinary
people of the Crimea so that they don’t try to counter lawlessness, especially over land matters. So that they can without obstruction
continue siphoning off land and setting one ethnic or religious group against another”.
Zair Smedlyaev says that this is also about the authorities preparing to remove the permanent picket by Crimean Muslims at the place
where they are planning to build a Soborna (Assembly) Mosque which the authorities have now prohibited. He is the formal organizer of
this picket which has been continuing for four years.
Analyst from the Crimean Independent Centre of Political Researchers, Yan Synytsyn believes that the case against Zair Smedlyaev is
mainly aimed against the First Deputy Head of the Mejlis, Refat Chubarov. It is he whom the leader of the Crimean Tatar national
movement for decades, Mustafa Dzhemilyev, plans to hand over the leadership to. Yan Synytsyn suspects that the authorities have other
candidates in mind who would be more loyal and amenable to them.
Click here to read more>>
source: www.radiosvoboda.org
Crimean law enforcement officers target a Mejlis activist
The Crimean Prosecutor’s Office has brought charges of resisting the police against the Head of the Secretariat of the Mejlis of the
Crimean Tatar People, Zair Smedlyaev. Over the case initiated after a rally of Crimean Tatars in 2006, he could face 4 years
imprisonment.
The Prosecutor’s Office says that he is accused of taking part in mass disturbances and resistance to the people. The criminal
investigation dates from 2006 yet the Prosecutor’s Office reanimated it a few months ago, and has brought it to the courts extremely
quickly.
The Head of the Secretariat, who is considered Refat Chubarov’s right hand man, is alleged by the Prosecutor’s Office to have taken
part in a picket on 22 June 2006 outside the Crimean Court of Appeal. A group of Crimean Tatars had been charged with attacking and
beating journalists from several television channels, as well as visitors to the Simferopol bar, the Cotton Club, in 2003.
After it was announced that due to lack of space, nobody could come in, there were disturbances and people tried to force their way in,
leading to scuffles with the police, resulting in several of the latter, apparently, receiving injuries.
There has been no official response from the Mejlis. Zair Smedlyaev told Radio Svoboda that he sees a political and ethnic subtext to the
Prosecutor’s Office’s actions.
“I view this criminal investigation as politically commission. It is an attempt to intimidate the entire Crimean Tatar people, all ordinary
people of the Crimea so that they don’t try to counter lawlessness, especially over land matters. So that they can without obstruction
continue siphoning off land and setting one ethnic or religious group against another”.
Zair Smedlyaev says that this is also about the authorities preparing to remove the permanent picket by Crimean Muslims at the place
where they are planning to build a Soborna (Assembly) Mosque which the authorities have now prohibited. He is the formal organizer of
this picket which has been continuing for four years.
Analyst from the Crimean Independent Centre of Political Researchers, Yan Synytsyn believes that the case against Zair Smedlyaev is
mainly aimed against the First Deputy Head of the Mejlis, Refat Chubarov. It is he whom the leader of the Crimean Tatar national
movement for decades, Mustafa Dzhemilyev, plans to hand over the leadership to. Yan Synytsyn suspects that the authorities have other
candidates in mind who would be more loyal and amenable to them.
Click here to read more>>
| Click map for larger view |
| Click flag for Country Report |
Viktor Yanukovych
President since 25 February 2010
President since 25 February 2010
| TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS |
None reported.
Andriy Klyuyev
First Deputy Prime Minister
since 11 March 2010
First Deputy Prime Minister
since 11 March 2010
Volodymyr Semynozhenko, Borys Kolesnikov, Volodymyr Sivkovych, Serhiy
Tyhtpko, Viktor Tykhonov, Viktor Slauta
Deputy Prime Ministers since 11 March 2010
Tyhtpko, Viktor Tykhonov, Viktor Slauta
Deputy Prime Ministers since 11 March 2010
