'Many fear the police more than they do criminals'
(IHF), one of the most influential human rights organizations in Europe, traveled to Kyiv last week to gather information on observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Ukraine.
IHF representatives, along with Helsinki-90 – its partner organization in Kyiv headed by Evgeny Diky – met with Hennady Udovenko, head of parliament's human rights committee, Ukrainian human rights commissioner Nina Karpachova, as well as with officials from the Presidential Administration and Justice Ministry.
On March 13, Diky hosted a roundtable where IHF and several Ukrainian NGOs discussed observance of human rights in Ukraine and the country's compliance with the relevant international conventions it signed.
Materials collected by Helsinki-90 prior to and during the visit will be published soon in a special report commissioned by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe.
Q: What is Helsinki-90 and what does it do?
A: Helsinki-90 is the oldest non-governmental human rights organization in Ukraine. Our activities are directed toward assisting Ukraine in meeting the requirements stipulated in the Helsinki and Vienna conventions on human rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, and other human rights conventions to which Ukraine is a signatory.
Like most human rights activists, we collect information about violations of human rights, analyze and publish our findings, as well as notify or appeal to responsible national and international human rights authorities.
Inasmuch as our organization is well-known, we receive numerous appeals from individuals claiming their rights have been violated. We pay special attention to – and document – instances of extraordinary abuse. Another aspect of our work is legal education. We organize seminars and work with activists and human rights specialists throughout Ukraine's provinces.
Helsinki-90 is a very small organization with a very small staff. Our initiatives are partly financed by the European Commission, with the remainder supplied by the professionalism and enthusiasm of our supporters.
Q: How would you characterize the situation regarding observance of human rights in Ukraine?
A: The situation today is bad and getting worse. Human rights violations are endemic and widespread. I am not talking about typical violations, such as chronic non-payment of wages or other violations of social-economic rights.
First off, I would note the extremely high level of corruption in law-enforcement agencies, which has had very unpleasant consequences. Most Ukrainians fear the police and agents of law-enforcement organs more than they do criminals. And they have good reason to be afraid. According to information we have collected, torture and humiliation of individuals arrested are not just isolated incidents, but common practice. Because Ukraine's judicial system is very primitive and corrupt, only rarely are those responsible brought to justice.
It is impossible to speak of the independence of courts because the money they are allocated amounts to only 60 percent of their minimum requirements. Officially, courts are expected to 'earn' the supplement independently. Unfortunately, the only commodity they can barter are court rulings.
Returning to the issue of torture, I should add that conditions of confinement – especially temporary confinement – are in and of themselves a form of torture. There is no money in the budget to improve conditions, which are deteriorating as 'the war on corruption' progresses. Success in battling corruption is evaluated by the number of people put behind bars, including those who may not belong there. Although most suspects have a legal right to be freed on bail until trial, they are nonetheless imprisoned. There they wait for months, sometimes years, in overcrowded cells for their cases to be called.
Q: Has the situation improved or worsened?
A: Over the past several years, the situation with observance of human rights in Ukraine has steadily deteriorated. Destroyed have been those achievements, most notably press freedoms, which were secured and recognized in the early 1990s. Today, we are all witnesses of how media was suppressed and neutralized during and since last fall's presidential election. The dismissal and persecution of newspaper editors, the closure of newspapers and television stations have brought us to the point today where only a handful of opposition media are allowed to exist.
All commercial media capable of influencing a wide audience are controlled by the state and at any moment may be brought to their knees by administrative means. As a result, Ukrainians have begun to experience the same fears, which lurked in their subconscious during years of Soviet rule. For many, they were realized following the presidential election, when the 'victors' punished those who supported the opposition's views and candidates. In Kyiv, official retribution was subtle. But it has been a lot cruder in Ukraine's provinces, where hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people have been fired from state service.
In many instances, officials have not bothered to hide the political motive behind the dismissals. Commercial structures, which lent financial support to the opposition's candidates, have once again become the victims of harsh financial checks and are being literally destroyed by tax police and other law enforcement organs.
In these conditions, many in the provinces sense they have returned to the Soviet Union. They are afraid to express their opinion in public, or even in the presence of bystanders. The ability of a corrupt regime to suppress social freedoms resembles the ideological dictatorship of the past.
Q: What is your view on the upcoming referendum?
A: As a human rights advocate, I am disturbed by the unconstitutionality of conducting a national plebiscite to change the law of the land. Whether or not our current Constitution is perfect, it must be respected. Otherwise, respect for the rule of law among the population will be liquidated. Ukraine's Constitution clearly stipulates the mechanism for amending it by a legislative act endorsed by parliament – not via a referendum. Even if I were to support all the changes proposed in the referendum, for me adherence to constitutional procedures is more important. Amending the Constitution unconstitutionally will reduce it to a worthless piece of paper. This is too high a price to pay even for worthy changes.
If the referendum is held and its results implemented, the president will get additional powers at the expense of parliamentary democracy. I observed a similar process in Belarus, and the result won't be different in Ukraine.
Q: How do you view the role of non-governmental organizations in these complicated times?
A: The so-called third sector in Ukraine is very weak. Although a small non-governmental sector does exist in Kyiv and in large regional centers, you can count the number of effective NGOs on one hand if you look at the rest of Ukraine. The efficacy of public sector work remains murky, and the opinions expressed by non-governmental organizations are rarely taken into account when serious decisions are made. The same applies to us.
Unfortunately, the non-governmental sector is composed of thousands of virtual non-governmental organizations, which exist only on paper. Recently, I read with interest that there are over 8,500 NGOs in Ukraine. Maybe, but I hope that statistic doesn't fool people, because, in reality, the number of active and effective NGOs is very small.
Q: How would you evaluate the work of Western governments and organizations who assist those promoting civil society in Ukraine?
A: In my opinion, the West has committed numerous blunders in its relationship with Ukraine. Huge amounts of money have been wasted – sent here under the guise of assistance and simply squandered. Credits and grants have been awarded, spent ineffectively, or simply stolen.
Money in exchange for reform was doled out to people uninterested in reforming the system or creating the foundation for the development of civil society. The formation of civil society played second fiddle to conducting economic reforms. But the main problem was that the West closed its eyes to real violations of human rights in Ukraine, thus inadvertently perpetuating many elements of the past communist regime by feeding the corruption of the whole state apparatus.
Western envoys have behaved like ostriches with their heads stuck in the sand. However, the situation today is not hopeless. Positive work is still possible if the West conditions its assistance to the government on specific, achievable goals. A good example here is the death penalty. Only after expulsion from the Council of Europe became a real threat did Kuchma's government find the political will to push through its abolition. The West must make definite, realistic demands and condition assistance on their fulfillment.
