What follows is a statement by the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly in response to the Dec. 30 ruling by Ukraine's Constitutional Court on the death penalty, which declared it illegal under the Ukrainian Constitution. The statement was the Council of Europe's first positive assessment of Ukraine's efforts to improve its human rights record after the continent's leading human rights body repeatedly criticized Ukraine for failing to comply with its membership requirements and even threatened suspension sanctions.
'The decision of the Ukrainian Constitutional Court that the death penalty is unconstitutional and can therefore no longer be applied is a welcome step forward in the honoring of Ukraine's obligations and commitments as a member state of the Council of Europe. I trust that this decision will soon be followed by the formal ratification of Protocol 6 to the European Human Rights Convention concerning the abolition of the death penalty,' said Lord Russell-Johnston, president of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.
'I also wish to congratulate the Ukrainian parliament on the adoption of the laws on political parties and on the ratification of the European Charter for regional or minority languages. These three decisions brought Ukraine significantly closer to the fulfillment of the Assembly Resolution 1194 adopted in June 1999,' the president added.
'This progress is of the utmost importance at this stage of the monitoring procedure. In June the Assembly had decided to start the procedure to suspend certain rights of the Ukrainian delegation if no further compliance with the Assembly's requests is accomplished before the end of this month,' Lord Russell-Johnston said.
'I trust that, encouraged by this success, the Ukrainian authorities will now keep the momentum and continue to take the initiatives necessary to complete the process of democratic reforms,' the president concluded.
Resolution 1194 stated that the Ukrainian authorities, including the parliament – the Verkhovna Rada – were responsible to a great extent for the failure to respect their commitments and obligations as a member of the Council of Europe. Further progress was necessary to bring the Ukrainian legislation into conformity with European standards and to ensure that the Ukrainian authorities observe these principles in their practical work.
