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Action Ukraine Report

"UKRAINE REPORT-2004"
In-Depth Ukrainian News and Analysis
"The Art of Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"

A U.S. Senator Speaks Out Strongly on Ukraine [article one]
To the U.S. Congress: Will We Lose the Cold War Victory? [article two]
"New unification of Russia and Ukraine has begun in Crimea," [article three]

"UKRAINE REPORT-2004," Number 11
U.S.-UKRAINE FOUNDATION (USUF)
www.ArtUkraine.com Information Service (ARTUIS)
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net
Kyiv, Ukraine and Washington, D.C., Wednesday, January 21, 2004

INDEX OF ARTICLES

1. TROUBLING PRE-ELECTION DEVELOPMENTS IN UKRAINE
U.S. Congressional Record Statement by
U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO)
Co-Chairman, Helsinki Commission
United States Senate, Washington, D.C., January 20, 2004.

2. WILL WE LOSE THE COLD WAR VICTORY?
Letter Sent All 535 Members of the United States Senate
and the United States House of Representatives
By Ihor Gawdiak, President, Ukrainian American Coordinating Council
UACC, Washington, D.C., Tuesday, January 20, 2004

3. "NEW UNIFICATION OF RUSSIA AND UKRAINE HAS BEGUN
IN CRIMEA" STATES TWO PRO-RUSSIAN FORCES
Successors of Bohdan Khmelnytskyy and the Russian Movement of Ukraine
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian, 20 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 20, 2004

4. CONGRESS OF RUSSIAN COMMUNITIES OF
CRIMEA URGES PRESIDENT KUCHMA TO RUN AGAIN
UT1, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 20 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 20, 2004

5.PRESIDENT KUCHMA'S HEALTH: A MANIPULATIVE TECHNOLOGY?
By Olexander Sushko, Ukrainian Monitor - 19/01/04
www.glavred.info, Kyiv, Ukraine, January 20, 2004

6. ANTIMONOPOLY COMMITTEE DENIES MONOPOLIZATION
OF MASS MEDIA BY THREE LEADING POLITICIANS
www.glavred.info, Kyiv, Ukraine, January 19, 2003

7. ALEXIS II: POPE'S VISIT POINTLESS UNLESS CATHOLICS STOP
PROSELYTISM IN RUSSIA AND GUARANTEE THE RELIGIOUS
RIGHTS OF THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN MINORITY
IN WESTERN UKRAINE
RIA NOVOSTI, Moscow, Russia, January 20, 2004

8. LETTER TO THE EDITOR, RE: Ukrainians Celebrate 17th Century Pact
With Russia, 350th Anniversary of the Pereyaslav Council
Letter to the Editor, "Ukraine Report-2004"
>From Terry Lys, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Sunday, January 18, 2004

9. EUROPEAN MONITOR CRITICIZES UKRAINE'S PROPOSED
CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION RIGHT BEFORE ELECTIONS
Korrespondent.net web site, Kiev, in Russian 20 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 20, 2004

10. KUCHMA AND THE MEDIA LOOKING TO 2004 'WITH FEAR'
By Jan Maksymiuk, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague, Czech Republic
RFE/RL Media Matters, Vol. 4, No. 1, 20 January 2004
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 11: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
=========================================================
1. TROUBLING PRE-ELECTION DEVELOPMENTS IN UKRAINE

U.S. Congressional Record Statement by
U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO)
Co-Chairman, Helsinki Commission
United States Senate, Washington, D.C., January 20, 2004.

Mr. President, as Co-Chairman of the Helsinki Commission and the sponsor of
the 2002 Senate-passed resolution urging the Ukrainian Government to ensure
a democratic, transparent and fair election process in advance of their
parliamentary elections, I find recent developments relating to upcoming
presidential elections in Ukraine deeply troubling.

Ten months before these critical elections, a constitutional amendment is
making its way through the Ukrainian parliament designed to ensure that the
current, corruption riddled powers-that-be retain their grip on power,
neutralizing the leader of the biggest democratic fraction in parliament and
Ukraine's most popular politician, Victor Yushchenko. The amendment calls
for abbreviating the presidential term for the October 2004 elections to two
years, with the election of a president by the parliament in 2006,
notwithstanding opinion polls indicating that the overwhelming majority of
Ukrainians support preserving direct presidential elections.

This amendment had been approved by Ukraine's Constitutional Court in a
decision which has led many observers both within and outside of Ukraine to
question the independence of the Court. The Court's decision a few weeks
ago to allow President Kuchma to run for a third term - despite the 1996
constitution's two-term limit, has only raised more questions.

Media repression continues, including the issuance of directives sent to
media by the Presidential Administration on what and how issues and events
should be covered, especially in the electronic media. A recent Freedom
House report concludes that "the current state of affairs of Ukraine's media
raises serious questions as to whether a fair and balanced electoral contest
can be held." Newspapers critical of the authorities are subjected to
various methods of repression, including attacks against journalists,
arrests of publishers, "special attention" via tax inspections,
administrative controls over distribution and pressure on advertisers.

Mr. President, at the same time, administrative measures are being taken to
prevent lawful political activity, the most stark example of which was the
disruption - instigated by the authorities - of a national congress of the
Yushchenko-led Our Ukraine bloc in Donetsk last November. Most recently, a
presidential decree dismissed the elected Our Ukraine mayor of Mukachevo -
despite a ruling by the Supreme Court which confirmed that he had been
elected in a legitimate way. In a telling twist, an acting mayor from the
political party led by the head of the Presidential Administration, Victor
Medvedchuk, has been installed.

As Co-Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, I share the concern of
colleagues on both sides of the aisle that the presidential elections in
Ukraine scheduled for October be free, fair, open and transparent and
conducted in a manner consistent with Ukraine's freely-undertaken
commitments as a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE). The Helsinki Commission, consistent with our mandate to
monitor and encourage compliance with OSCE agreements by all participating
States, will continue to follow the situation in Ukraine closely.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of a recent Washington
Post editorial on troubling pre-election developments in Ukraine be included
in the Record. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Congress came back into session on January 20, after the holiday
recess. Sen. Campbell's statement will appear in the Congressional Record
and on the Helsinki Commission's website on January 21: www.csce.gov.
To read the editorial that appeared in The Washington Post, "A Resolution
for Ukraine" click on: http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/resol_ukr.htm.
Our thanks to Orest Deychakiwsky for sending out Senator Campbell's
statement, orest.deychak@mail.house.gov]
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 11: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
=========================================================
2. WILL WE LOSE THE COLD WAR VICTORY?

Letter Sent All 535 Members of the United States Senate
and the United States House of Representatives
Ihor Gawdiak, President, Ukrainian American Coordinating Council (UACC)
Washington, D.C., Tuesday, January 20, 2004

The Bush Administration is sending the message that it has no strong
objection to Russian President Vladimir Putin's imperial designs on Ukraine.
The Administration's message may or may not be intentional. But if the U.S.
approach does not change dramatically--and very soon--it will not be long
before people outside the Ukrainian-American community will realize that
George W. Bush's inaction in the former Soviet republics during 2003 could
have the result once sought by George Bush Sr.'s 1991 "Chicken Kiyv"
speech--locking these countries under Kremlin control.

You may have seen the recent Washington Post editorial, "A Resolution for
Ukraine." (Copy included below.) The Post expressed the hope that the Bush
Administration's professed intention "to expand" and support the
"consolidation of freedom in many new but often fragile democracies"
includes Ukraine and the other former Soviet republics. Unfortunately, the
evidence strongly suggests that the Administration has no intention of
making a responsible investment in Ukraine's fragile democracy and the
potential for Ukraine's integration into the West.

As the Post accurately says, this is a critical year for Ukraine in that a
presidential election is scheduled for next October. However, with polls
showing a likelihood that the highly popular reformer Viktor Yushchenko
would win any fair election, Ukrainian President Kuchma and a complex
network of corrupt oligarchs are aggressively moving to see that either
there is no election or that they can control the outcome. Mr. Putin and
his allies are deeply involved and Russia's interests are not for reform,
western integration, or the "consolidation of freedom," mouthed by the U.S.
Administration.

In Ukraine's last parliamentary elections the citizenry showed that it
wants reforms and a legitimate democracy. Given the opportunity, the voters
of Ukraine manifested a major shift in previous voting patterns in spite of
corrupt manipulations by the government. However, thus warned, the
government and its oligarch beneficiaries have been moving to choke off
opposition. The critical factor is that they maintain control of
essentially all of Ukraine's media outlets. Thus, much of Ukraine's
population is unaware of the illegal steps being taken to keep Yushchenko
from winning. We in this country have much greater access to news of the
extra-legal maneuverings of Mr. Kuchma and his so-called Constitutional
Court than do the citizens and voters of Ukraine.

What is the United States doing for freedom and its own long-term best
interest in the region? Very, very little. Though in the words of one
Administration official "we have put together the largest election aid
package ever," the suggestion is laughable. First, the "package" is the
product of a familiar game of bundling any and all current programs and
giving them one title so that they look as if they have something to do with
this year's election. Second, even accepting all of these unrelated
projects as "election-related," the combined investment is less than many
congressional candidates have in the bank at the beginning of our election
year. And, Ukraine is a country of some 50 million people!

This year's election in Ukraine is critical to Ukraine's future and to
United States' interests in the region. Mr. Yushchenko is standing for
election and against the corrupt and autocratic power structure desperate to
protect its interests. It is not too much to say that Yushchenko is risking
his life in the hope of being able to change his country and to secure
freedom for the people of Ukraine. What he and the opposition have asked
for from the West is assistance to see to it that the elections are fair.

You wouldn't think that was too much to ask from an Administration whose
"first foreign policy resolution for 2004 is 'to expand freedom.'"

But so far the Bush Administration's investment in support of fair and
informed elections is an embarrassment. There is no time to lose. If Cold
War concerns about the "Captive Nations" ever meant anything, the United
States needs to step up and help to secure the freedom so long sought and so
often promised.

We urge you to press the Administration for immediate action.

Ihor Gawdiak
/S/
President, Ukrainian American Coordinating Council
Washington, D.C. [uaccw@aol.com]

[To read The Washington Post editorial "A Resolution for Ukraine"
click on: http://www.artukraine.com/buildukraine/resol_ukr.htm.]
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 11: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
=========================================================
3. "NEW UNIFICATION OF RUSSIA AND UKRAINE HAS BEGUN
IN CRIMEA" STATES TWO PRO-RUSSIAN FORCES
Successors of Bohdan Khmelnytskyy and the Russian Movement of Ukraine

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian, 20 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 20, 2004

Simferopol, 20 January: The formation of a bloc of Ukraine's centre left
political forces began at a Crimean assembly in Simferopol today. The
assembly, which was dedicated to the 350th anniversary of the Ukraine's
reunification with Russia [so-called Pereyaslavska treaty, which is regarded
in Ukraine as an uneasy alliance that paved the way to Ukraine's
incorporation into the Russian empire] and the day of the [Autonomous]
Republic of Crimea, culminated in signing a cooperation agreement between
the Ukrainian nationwide movement called the Successors of [Ukrainian
hetman] Bohdan Khmelnytskyy [headed by Crimean Communist leader MP
Leonid Hrach] and the NGO called the Russian Movement of Ukraine.

The two organizations will make efforts to create the united front of
supporters of unification of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, of the Single
Economic Space [common market agreement between the three states and
Kazakhstan] and of Ukraine's foreign policy towards rapprochement with
Russia and Belarus.

They also spoke in favour of new cultural and language policy aimed at
giving the Russian language an official status and against falsifying the
history of the fatherland.

"The new unification of Russia and Ukraine has begun in Crimea," the leaders
of the two organizations said. The assembly asked the Ukrainian and Russian
authorities to draw up the legal requirements for creating the Single
Economic Space.

They also suggested that a nationwide referendum be held in Ukraine "on
creating a union state on a new basis while preserving the sovereignty of
its participants". The assembly called on leftist parties and movements to
have similar referendums held in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. (END)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 11: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
=========================================================
4. CONGRESS OF RUSSIAN COMMUNITIES OF
CRIMEA URGES PRESIDENT KUCHMA TO RUN AGAIN

UT1, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 20 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 20, 2004

The Congress of Russian Communities of Crimea, the CRCC, today urged the
president [Leonid Kuchma] to agree to run in the presidential election in
October 2004.

The CRCC issued a statement regarding the Constitutional Court's decision on
the right of the incumbent head of state to run in the 2004 elections. [On
30 December, the court ruled that Kuchma may run for a third time.]

We have always believed that any change of the top state leadership at this
historical stage will damage the system of Ukraine's future domestic
political and foreign political course, as large financial-economic groups
have been formed in Ukraine, which journalists call oligarchic clans. This
[change] would worsen the entire sociopolitical and socioeconomic life in
the state, eventually changing the life of ordinary people - the Ukrainians,
the Russians, the representatives of all the nations and peoples who reside
in Ukraine - for worse, the statement said.

As a Russian organization uniting Ukrainian citizens, we have always been
constructively criticizing the president, being aware of the fact that a lot
of his political and state initiatives are being blocked by the radical
position of certain political groups, whose existence he cannot ignore, the
CRCC said.

The organization stressed that Leonid Kuchma has been the real guarantor of
political stability and norms of the current constitution, consolidating the
foundations of the whole Ukrainian society. (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 11: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
=========================================================
5. PRESIDENT KUCHMA'S HEALTH: A MANIPULATIVE TECHNOLOGY?

By Olexander Sushko, Ukrainian Monitor - 19/01/04
www.glavred.info, Kyiv, Ukraine, January 20, 2004

Leonid Kuchma's return home has marked the longest in the history of
independent Ukraine period of absence of Ukraine's highest authority in his
hearth and home.

To start with, President Kuchma's 22-days long German vacation lasted
December 27 through January 17. A number of political events took place in
this period coinciding with the New Year holidays, traditionally a dead
season for politics, ranging from the predicted (yet scandalous) decision of
the Constitutional Court allowing Kuchma to run for a third term in office,
to preposterous rumors of President's fatal illness, which were in their
zenith on Friday, January 16. At this, one could notice this information was
spread somewhat deliberately, purposefully and through all available
information channels

Indeed, information policy around Leonid Kuhcma's stay in Baden-Baden was
ideal for appearance of such rumors. Not a single journalist was permitted
to enter the Max Grundig's Clinic where the head of state was undergoing
therapy. It should be reminded that two months ago, when Kuchma underwent
surgery in the Feofania Hospital, loyal journalists were allowed to visit
the head of state in four days, in order to confirm his capacity for work.
On the contrary, this time one can have an impression that someone is
consciously organizing suitable to his interests coverage of President's
state of health.

Kuchma's appearance in the Boryspil airport on Saturday partially released
the tension, although the President was in comparatively bad looks and in no
mood for interviews. Still, there remain grounds for various speculations,
and there hasn't been any official announcements on the President's state of
health so far.

While prior to this, forecasts of transfer of power in Ukraine were
concerned with analogical situations in Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan or even
Romania, now there emerged the phantom of the "Croatian scenario" (the
authoritarian ex-president of Croatia Franjo Tudzhman died from cancer in
1999 giving way to democratic transformations in his country).

We assume that the rumors on Kuchma's fatal illness are an artificially
created manipulation technology aimed at provoking interested political
persons to make certain preliminary moves. If this is true, the situation
will be suspended for several more weeks, perhaps as long as until the final
resolution of the constitutional reform issue. Only then the final decision
will be taken as to who will become the power's candidate at the
presidential elections and whether the head of state will resign.

If President Kuchma is gravely ill, the successor's issue will become the
key problem of the next few months before the elections. In case he gets
disabled, the Donetsk Clan will lay a legitimate claim of absolute power
through interim presidency of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovyuch envisaged by
the Constitution. This scenario is unlikely to please the SDPU(u), which
will strive for informal arrangements on Viktor Medvedchuk's unofficial
regency until the presidential elections. Although the President turned up
alive on Saturday, this scenario shouldn't be ruled out completely.

In either of the cases one shouldn't expect appearance of convincing and
final disproof of rumors on Kuchma's illness in the nearest future. Even
supposing that these rumors emerged spontaneously and have no grounds, they
have already become a perfect tool for manipulating the government and the
parliament, the majority and the opposition, the political elite and the
public opinion alike. Most likely, this manipulation is aimed at confusing
the leading political players and creating of a favorable psychological and
informational background for strengthening of positions of those who know
the truth of President's state of health and realize their goals for the
year 2004. (END) (ARTUIS)

[EDITOR: President Kuchma and the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John
Herbst met Tuesday in Kyiv to discuss a variety of on going issues.]
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2005, No. 11: ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
========================================================
6. ANTIMONOPOLY COMMITTEE DENIES MONOPOLIZATION
OF MASS MEDIA BY THREE LEADING POLITICIANS

www.glavred.info, Kyiv, Ukraine, January 19, 2003

The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine denies monopolization of mass media
by head Presidential Administration Viktor Medvedchuk and Members of
Parliament Viktor Pinchuk and Hryhoriy Surkis.

The Committee checked on ICTV, STB, Novyi Kanal, Studio 1+1TV channels
and on Fakty, 2000, Kievskie Vedomosti and Day newspapers. "The
Antimonopoly Committee uncovered no signs of monopolization in the course
of foundation of the said mass media," the report of the organization says.

According to earlier reports, in early April the Verkhovna Rada sent a
request to the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine demanding a check on
whether the founding of 1+1, TET and Alternatyva TV companies, as well as
of Day, 2000 and Business newspapers by Viktor Medvedchuk and Hryhoriy
Surkis complies with antimonopoly laws.

According to the law on television and radio broadcasting, one citizen or
legal entity cannot be constitutor or co-constitutor of television and radio
organizations, which are carrying out broadcasting of more than two TV
channels or three radio channels . (END) (ARTUIS)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 11: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
=========================================================
7. ALEXIS II: POPE'S VISIT POINTLESS UNLESS CATHOLICS STOP
PROSELYTISM IN RUSSIA AND GUARANTEE THE RELIGIOUS
RIGHTS OF THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN MINORITY IN
WESTERN UKRAINE

RIA NOVOSTI, Moscow, Russia, January 20, 2004

Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia has made it clear that
Pope John Paul II's visit to this country will make no sense unless the
Vatican takes concrete steps to stop proselytism in Russian territory
and to guarantee the religious rights of the Orthodox Christian minority
in western Ukraine.

"It would be wrong to just meet before television cameras, thus
demonstrating to public opinion that no problems exist between us. Problems
do exist," the head of the Russian Orthodox Church pointed out as he spoke
Tuesday with a group of British journalists invited to Russia by the RIA
news agency.

This was the first time in years that the Russian Patriarch had received a
delegation of foreign pressmen in his residence.

"If I meet with the Pope just to pose before TV cameras, my flock won't
understand. Such a meeting must be preceded by specific agreements,"
Alexis II emphasized. At the same time, he indicated the Russian Orthodox
Church's willingness to have a dialogue with the Catholic clergy.

Speaking about the icon of Our Lady of Kazan held by the Vatican, the
Patriarch remarked that an expert examination in April 2003 had provided
conclusive evidence that this was a later copy of the genuine,
miracle-working icon. The Vatican's holding is of a different size than the
missing original, and must have been painted by a provincial master at the
end of the 18th century or even later, he noted, expressing bewilderment at
the mounting controversy around the icon. He stressed that the papal visit
should not be linked to the return of the icon, but said he was hopeful
that the painting would eventually find its way back home.

Alexis II said he personally had no anti-Catholic feeling and that despite
today's strain in the relations with the Vatican, the Russian Orthodox
Church still continues intensive contacts with a number of Catholic
dioceses, organizations, and educational institutions. (END)(ARTUIS)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDITOR: Alexis II is once again claiming the Russian Orthodox Church
has the exclusive right to be the only religious organization from the Black
Sea to the Baltic's to the Pacific Ocean, which is utter nonsense. His
claim has to be fought against by all those who believe in the very
important human and democratic rights of freedom of religion and the
separation of church and state.
=========================================================
"WELCOME TO UKRAINE" MAGAZINE
Just A Great, World Class Magazine about Ukraine, In English
http://www.artukraine.com/travel/wumagazine.htm
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 11: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
=========================================================
8. LETTER TO THE EDITOR, RE: Ukrainians Celebrate 17th Century Pact
With Russia, 350th Anniversary of the Pereyaslav Council

Letter to the Editor, "Ukraine Report-2004"
>From Terry Lys, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Sunday, January 18, 2004

RE: UR-2004 #9 Jan. 18, Article 10. Ukrainians Celebrate 17th Century Pact
With Russia, 350th Anniversary of the Pereyaslav Council

Hetman Bohdan Kmelnetysky's horse mounted statue in Kyiv, pointing his baton
west stands to this day as a controversial and poignant symbol of one of the
many struggles which Ukraine once faced. But what should remain of a "pact"
where the once ally becomes an equal if not worse oppressor?

Having recently paid tribute, on its 70th Anniversary, to the millions of
Ukrainians who perished or were displaced during the Great Famine Genocide,
one asks, "Is the 350th Anniversary of the Pereyaslav Council" worthy of
celebration at all? And, are those who so celebrate the occasion some of
the deniers of the Great Famine Genocide?

Allies help look out for one another. They do not kill their ally by the
millions and wreak havoc with their right to self-determination unless they
are not an ally at all.

Democratic reform in Ukraine in 2004 on the other hand, if it takes place,
will be an event worth celebrating.

Terry Lys, Calgary, Alberta, Canada [ lyst@lysalta.ca]
========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 11: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
=========================================================
9. EUROPEAN MONITOR CRITICIZES UKRAINE'S PROPOSED
CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION RIGHT BEFORE ELECTIONS

Korrespondent.net web site, Kiev, in Russian 20 Jan 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Jan 20, 2004

KIEV..A monitor of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, Hanne
Severinsen, has criticized the [proposed] changes to Ukraine's constitution
ahead of the presidential elections [in October]. "It is not very fair to
change the constitution right before the presidential elections," she said
at a news conference in Kiev on 20 January.

She said that political reform was a lengthy process. "Constitutions are not
something that you just change like you change your shirt," she added. "If
Ukraine makes changes to the constitution in an unconstitutional way, the
Council of Europe will be very concerned," Severinsen said.

[According to the constitutional reform proposals that received a
preliminary approval in Ukraine's parliament on 24 December, the president
elected by universal suffrage in 2004 will remain in office for only two
years instead of five. In 2006, a new president will be elected by
parliament. The opposition says the changes are intended to keep the
incumbent ruling elite in power after the 2004 elections, in which
opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko is a strong favourite. The proposals
will need the approval of two-thirds of parliament to become law.] (END)
=========================================================
UKRAINE REPORT-2004, No. 11: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
=========================================================
10. KUCHMA AND THE MEDIA LOOKING TO 2004 'WITH FEAR'

By Jan Maksymiuk, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prague, Czech Republic
RFE/RL Media Matters, Vol. 4, No. 1, 20 January 2004

In her annual report to the Verkhovna Rada in April 2003,
Ombudswoman Nina Karpachova told lawmakers that journalism remains
among the most dangerous professions in Ukraine, with 36 media
employees having been killed over the past decade. Sadly, 2003 added
three more names to this grim statistic: Volodymyr Yefremov,
Volodymyr Kucheryav, and Volodymyr Karachevtsev. Yefremov died in a
suspicious car crash; Kucheryav was reportedly shot to death by a
close acquaintance and business partner; and Karachevtsev was found
hanged in his home. All three deaths have left many unanswered
questions.

Another Ukrainian-born journalist -- Reuters camera operator
Taras Protsyuk -- was killed in Baghdad in April 2003 when the hotel
where he was staying was shelled by a U.S. tank.

The Mass Information Institute (IMI), a Kyiv-based NGO
studying Ukraine's media, reported recently some statistical data
relating to violations of the freedom of speech in the country in
2003 (http://www.imi.org.ua). According to the IMI, 42 Ukrainian
journalists were attacked or intimidated otherwise in 2003 (the
relevant figure in 2002 was 23). Moreover, 38 Ukrainian media outlets
told the IMI that they or their employees were subject to political,
economic, or "indirect" pressure by authorities last year (30 media
outlets complained about this in 2002). "Indirect pressure --
something that is very difficult to prove unambiguously [in court] --
remains the primary method for putting into the yoke those very few
[media outlets] that have not yet stood under the banner of the party
of power," the IMI concluded. "Numerous reports from the provinces
testify to the fact that it is problematic [for the media] not only
to support the opposition...but also to avoid working for the
official authorities."

As before, defamation suits against media outlets and
journalists, with demands of high financial compensations "for libel,
inflicting moral and material harm or damage to business reputation"
of claimants, were a fairly common occurrence in Ukraine (46 suits in
2003, compared to 38 in 2002). "The only positive fact was that none
of the defamation suits [in 2003] has led, as it happened earlier, to
the closure of a media outlet," the IMI commented.

The use of "temnyky" (the word means "themes of the week" in
Ukrainian journalistic lingo) is one of the most alarming methods of
state interference in the media sphere in Ukraine. Temnyky are
unsigned secret instructions that are regularly sent by the
presidential administration to major state-controlled and private
media outlets (primarily television and radio channels) to tell
journalists on what issues they are to report during a particular
week and in what manner.

The temnyky issue became public in the second half of 2002,
when Verkhovna Rada Freedom of Speech and Information Committee
Chairman Mykola Tomenko revealed their existence and they became a
subject of parliamentary debate. "In fact, television news coverage
in Ukraine is made by remote control," journalist Andriy Shevchenko
told the Verkhovna Rada in December 2002. "Someone else, not
journalists, edits news programs, shoots and disseminates videos,
writes texts, and selects comments by governors, which are
subsequently sent to all channels. Let us admit honestly: instead of
news coverage, Ukraine gets lies. Because every half-truth is a lie,
and there should be no illusions about that."

According to a report released by the U.S.-based NGO Freedom
House in October 2003 on the media situation in Ukraine in the run-up
to the 2004 presidential election, the practice of issuing temnyky
has not abated since it was exposed. An indirect confirmation of this
practice was a week-long study of news programs on Ukraine's five
major television channels -- UT-1, 1+1, Inter, STB, and New Channel
-- conducted in November by the Ukrainian NGO Academy of Ukrainian
Press (AUP). The AUP confirmed "a tendency among leading television
channels to present a single agenda for daily news broadcasts and a
highly similar interpretation of political events," Interfax reported
on 5 December 2003.

The case of slain Internet journalist Heorhiy Gongadze is an
important litmus test for the Ukrainian authorities' intention to
deal fairly with grave allegations implicating former and present
top-ranking Ukrainian officials, including President Leonid Kuchma.
The Gongadze case certainly appears to have been a political murder
carried out to stifle one of the government's fiercest critics in
the media. Gongadze's headless corpse was found near Kyiv in
November 2000. The same month, Socialist Party leader Oleksandr Moroz
made public a tape allegedly made by former presidential bodyguard
Mykola Melnychenko in Kuchma's office, on which the Ukrainian
president appears to urge some state officials to get rid of
Gongadze. No apparent progress has been made in unraveling the
mystery of this murder.

In September, former Prosecutor-General Svyatoslav Piskun
announced that his colleagues have concluded their investigations of
several high-profile criminal cases, including the Gongadze murder.
Piskun said prosecutors have placed three suspects in the Gongadze
case on a search list, but declined to reveal their names. Within
months, Kuchma fired Piskun, charging him with misusing budgetary
funds and taking advantage of his position for personal gain. The new
prosecutor-general, Hennadiy Vasilyev, said Piskun's announcement
was unfounded. Investigators, Vasilyev said, have not solved the
Gongadze case and have no suspects.

The state-controlled media in Ukraine -- primarily Ukrainian
Television and Ukrainian Radio -- play a dominant role in terms of
propagandistic influence on the public. Thus, the situation closely
resembles the one in Belarus. However, in contrast to Belarus,
Ukraine also has a significant private-media market, which includes
not only newspapers, but also influential television and radio
channels. As a result, it is possible to say that there is some
pluralism in the media sphere in Ukraine.

This pluralism, however, does not mean that the Ukrainian
public is well served in terms of the objectivity and impartiality of
reporting. Many studies of the Ukrainian media have found that media
outlets are extremely partisan in their reporting, particularly
during election campaigns, and routinely provide positive coverage of
political allies of media owners while simultaneously smearing their
opponents.

There have been no essential changes in the ownership of
major media outlets in Ukraine last year. Most influential private
radio, television channels, and newspapers are owned or controlled by
oligarchs and oligarchic clans supporting the government and/or
Kuchma. Such a situation certainly handicaps the Ukrainian opposition
-- Our Ukraine, the Socialist Party, and the Yuliya Tymoshenko Bloc
-- in this year's presidential campaign, as none of these three
forces is known to wield influence with any significant television or
radio station.

On the other hand, a presidential candidate or candidates
from the party of power will likely enjoy massive support not only
from the state-controlled Ukrainian Television and Ukrainian Radio,
but also from the oligarchic television channels: STB, New Channel,
ICTV (controlled by Kuchma's son-in-law, Viktor Pinchuk); Inter,
TET, Enter (Viktor Medvedchuk, Hryhoriy Surkis); 1+1 (Oleksandr
Volkov).

No one should expect that there will be equal conditions for
all presidential candidates to transmit their electoral message to
voters. "I'm looking to next year with fear. Everybody agrees
that the [2004] election will be the scariest and dirtiest ever,"
Kuchma told journalists in December 2003. There is not the slightest
doubt that the Ukrainian media will make an enormous contribution to
substantiating Kuchma's apprehension. (END) (ARTUIS)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Jan Maksymiuk is an RFE/RL analyst and editor of "RFE/RL
Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine Report." http://www.rferl.org/reports/mm/
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