"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT"
An International Newsletter
In-Depth Ukrainian News, Analysis, and Commentary
"The Art of Ukrainian History, Culture, Arts, Business, Religion,
Sports, Government, and Politics, in Ukraine and Around the World"
UKRAINE VOTES FOR A NEW PRESIDENT
Sunday, October 31, 2004
"THE ACTION UKRAINE REPORT" Year 04, Number 204
The Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC), Washington, D.C.
Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA), Huntingdon Valley, PA
morganw@patriot.net, ArtUkraine.com@starpower.net (ARTUIS)
Washington, D.C., SATURDAY, October 30, 2004
-----INDEX OF ARTICLES-----
"Major International News Headlines and Articles"
1. UKRAINIAN VOTERS' COMMITTEE SAYS AT LEAST 25% OF
THE POLLING STATIONS ARE NOT READY FOR THE ELECTION
Errors in voters lists go as high as 35%
Era, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian 30 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sat, Oct 30, 2004
2. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO PREDICTS MASS FRAUD IN
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION VOTE
By Ron Popeski, Reuters, Kiev, Ukraine, Fri, 29 Oct 2004
3. UKRAINE: FORMER AMERICAN CONGRESSMAN SPEAK
ABOUT VIOLATIONS OF THE DEMOCRATIC ELECTION PROCESS
By Serhiy Kudelia, Radio Svoboda in Ukrainian, RFE/RL
Washington, D.C., Thursday, October 21, 2004
4. FEARS OF VIOLENCE AS UKRAINE HEADS FOR POLLS
By Tom Warner in Ukraine
Financial Times, London, UK, Sat, Oct 30 2004
5. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT KUCHMA CRITICIZES JOURNALISTS
PROTESTING MEDIA REPRESSION IN UKRAINE
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, in Ukrainian 29 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring, UK, in English, Fri, Oct 29, 2004
6. IFJ CALLS FOR SOLIDARITY AS HUNGER STRIKE BY
JOURNALISTS INSPIRES UKRAINE PROTESTS AGAINST
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION MEDIA CENSORSHIP
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
Brussels, Belgium, Friday, 29 October 2004
7. AS STUDENT ACTIVISM IN UKRAINE GROWS,
REPRESSIONS INTENSIFY
OP-ED by V. Bandera, Member, Board of Directors
Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA)
Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, Friday, Oct 29, 2004
8. VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH ACCUSES VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
OF TRYING TO USURP POWER IN A VIOLENT WAY
Novyy Kanal television, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 29 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, Oct 29, 2004
9. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE YANUKOVYCH
OPPOSES AUTONOMY FOR CRIMEAN TATARS
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian, 29 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring, UK, in English, Friday, October 29, 2004
10. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE YANUKOVYCH
DISMISSES TALK OF HIS CRIMINAL RECORD
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 29 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, Oct 29, 2004
11.UKRAINIAN VOTERS SAID RECEIVING LETTERS FROM RUSSIA
ADVISING THEM TO VOTE FOR VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH
It is in the best of traditions black public relations
By Viktor Chyvokunya, "Anti-Yushchenko Letter Sent Out....."
Ukrayinska Pravda web site, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 28 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, Oct 29, 2004
12. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO COMPLAINS TO KUCHMA OF
"PHANTOM" VOTER TRAINS TO DISRUPT THE POLLS
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 29 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, Oct 29, 2004
13. "IS UKRAINE FACING A MASSIVE UPRISING?"
Opposition supporters prepare to hit the streets after tomorrow's
vote, which they say may be rigged to favour those in power
By Mark MacKinnon, The Globe and Mail
Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Saturday, Oct 30, 2004 - Page A17
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 204: ARTICLE NUMBER ONE
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1. UKRAINIAN VOTERS' COMMITTEE SAYS AT LEAST 25% OF
THE POLLING STATIONS ARE NOT READY FOR THE ELECTION
Errors in voters lists go as high as 35%
Era, Kiev, Ukraine, in Ukrainian 30 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Sat, Oct 30, 2004
KIEV - [Presenter] At least a quarter of polling stations are not ready for
the election. The lists of voters are not ready either due to an unusually
high number of errors, the [independent election watchdog] Ukrainian Voters'
Committee says. This poor state of readiness could be one of the arguments
for ruling the election illegitimate, the committee's leadership believes.
Yuliya Dylova has the details.
[Correspondent] Half the polling stations do not have the sufficient number
of ballot boxes. A quarter of poling stations do not have booths for secret
ballot. That is the result of a check of polling stations by Ukrainian
Voters' Committee [UVC] members.
There are even more problems with lists of voters, they say. The lists
contain a lot of so-called dead souls, while information about real voters
is often incorrect. According to the committee, at some polling stations,
the share of errors in voter lists amounts to 35 per cent. Despite
unprecedented activity by Ukrainian citizens to verify information about
them in the lists, polling stations are unable to make sure 100 per cent of
mistakes are corrected. Here's what UVC deputy head Yevhen
Poberezhnyy had to say on the subject.
[Poberezhnyy] Unfortunately, we view many of the errors as a result of ill
intent by people responsible for putting the lists together rather than a
consequence of negligence or some technical problems. About 5 per cent of
voters are the so-called dead souls. But, aside from this number, there are
a great number of errors concerning voters included in the lists at polling
stations.
[Correspondent] Irregularities are rife, so it is critical that the election
be held in a fair and transparent way, the head of the UVC board, Ihor
Popov, stresses. In his opinion, even such a great number of irregularities
cannot serve as a reason for finding the election illegitimate. However,
such a state of polling stations at the time of the vote could become an
argument in favour of disrupting the elections. Here's Ihor Popov.
[Popov] It is impossible to count all this even if 100 voters stood outside
each polling station on polling day, shouting - Include me in the voter
list, or I will smash up this station! I think even this would provide no
grounds for any legitimate body of power to say - let's cancel this
election. -30- [Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
FOOTNOTE: Several political party leaders in Cherkasy, Ukraine
today confirmed they believe around 25% of the names on the voter
lists have errors in them. The leaders believe that possibly 15%-25%
of the voters who come to the polls will not be able to vote due to voter
list and other errors. [Editor]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.204: ARTICLE NUMBER TWO
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2. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO PREDICTS MASS FRAUD IN
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION VOTE
By Ron Popeski, Reuters, Kiev, Ukraine, 29 Oct 2004
KIEV ----- Liberal challenger Viktor Yushchenko predicted on
Friday that Ukrainian authorities would resort to mass fraud to ensure
victory for the establishment candidate in an increasingly tense weekend
presidential poll.
Polls ahead of Sunday's contest show him level with Prime Minister Viktor
Yanukovich, the chosen successor of veteran President Leonid Kuchma.
The president, stepping down after two terms plagued by scandal,
immediately denounced the allegations.
Each leading camp accuses the other of plotting to disrupt the vote.
Rumours on private radio stations and in the street suggest outbreaks of
violence, troop deployments or power cuts.
The Western-leaning Yushchenko said authorities were intent on securing
the prime minister's victory at any cost.
"We believe there is a colossal threat to Ukraine's election being held in a
free, democratic fashion," the former prime minister and central banker told
reporters. "With our authorities we can only expect one thing -- they will
resort to cheating and brutal behaviour towards voters."
Ukrainians will effectively be choosing whether to move closer to the West
or cultivating warmer post-Soviet ties with Moscow. With a field of 24, a
run-off round is all but certain.
Yushchenko said fraud could involve preparing tallies in advance, stuffing
ballot boxes or multiple voting and urged supporters to mass outside polling
stations on Sunday evening. "We will conduct ourselves as model citizens,"
he said. "But we must go to the places where we have to be. That means
polling stations. This will greatly help ensure an honest count."
CALLS FOR A FAIR VOTE
The European Union and the United States have urged Ukraine to ensure
a fair contest, citing in particular reporting by pro-government television
stations favouring the prime minister.
"A free and fair election will deepen Ukraine's relationship with Europe and
its institutions," Richard Armitage, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, wrote
in Friday's Financial Times. "A bad election, on the other hand, will force
us to re-examine our relationship."
The head of a 600-strong European observer mission said he had seen
"things I would not normally appreciate in a campaign", although he gave
no details. But, with officials cooperating "there is the possibility to do
something about it", Geert Hinrich Ahrens of the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), told Reuters.
Kuchma dismissed Yushchenko's charges as a desperate lunge to stave
off defeat. "Politicians with falling popularity resort to such tactics,"
Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted him as saying. "It seems to me that
if there is any threat to the election it will come from their side."
Yanukovich, who stood alongside Kuchma and Russian President Vladimir
Putin on Thursday at a Soviet-style military parade, was to visit a church
before an evening concert in his support.
Yanukovich, who seeks close ties with Moscow and official status for the
Russian language alongside Ukrainian, condemned as incitement opposition
calls to mass by polling stations. (additional reporting by Nikolai Pavlov)
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.204: ARTICLE NUMBER THREE
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3.UKRAINE: FORMER AMERICAN CONGRESSMAN SPEAK ABOUT
VIOLATIONS OF THE DEMOCRATIC ELECTION PROCESS
By Serhiy Kudelia, Radio Svoboda in Ukrainian, RFE/RL
Washington, D.C., Thursday, October 21, 2004
WASHINGTON, D. C. - In the opinion of two former United States
congressmen, the main violations taking place during the presidential
campaign in Ukraine are restrictions on freedom of speech, the frightening
of potential voters, and one-sided campaigning for the pro-government
candidate. In September they visited the Kherson and Odesa (actually, it
was Mykolaiv) oblasts as part of a group of former American legislators.
Their observer mission was organized with support of the U.S.-Ukraine
Foundation. Lawrence DeNardis, who represented Connecticut in the U.S.
Congress, has been interested in Ukraine still to the fall of the Soviet
Union, yet visited the country for the first time last month. He said that
from all his meetings with Ukrainian officials, the most memorable was with
the former Governor of Kherson, Serhiy Dovhan. "We sat incredulous, as he
delivered the most intemperate and outrageous diatribe against Yushchenko.
I was so surprised that I even asked the translator if we understood him
correctly." Indisputably, Ukrainian law requires that officials remain
neutral. In response to my question, he repeated and even expanded upon
his accusations, noting that the recent poisoning of Yushchenko was really
an attempted suicide. This is outrageous."
At the same time, DeNardis notes that he was most distraught by the voters'
skepticism that the vote count would be fair. Another former Congressmen,
Lou Frey from Florida, believes that the degree to which the presidential
race in Ukraine is democratic will be expressed on election day. "Many of
the complaints about campaign violations are similar to those that take
place in several regions in the U.S. For example, we also have
misunderstandings as to who can and can't register to vote. Therefore, my
main concern lies in what will happen on election day. Whether the
elections are free and fair will be decided on that day."
According to DeNardis, authorized sociological services in Ukraine should
carry out exit-polling, that is, questioning voters as they exit the polling
stations. This will give an objective picture of the distribution of
support amongst candidates. In his opinion, disagreement between the
results of the exit-polls and the officially announced election results can
create serious problems for the government. Lou Frey maintains that the
best device against falsification of the elections will be the observers at
the polling stations. "I don't think that protests will help resolve the
problems (falsifications). I believe it is better if people at the polling
stations observe the vote count. If something happens and the election is
stolen, you can't redo that. That's over with. What happened in Georgia
probably is not going to happen in Ukraine ."
Congressmen DeNardis also noted that dirty violations during the
presidential elections in Ukraine will obstruct its integration with the
EuroAtlantic community. In the event of falsification of the presidential
elections, the main threat to Ukraine will be society's disappointment in
its own ability to help make positive changes in the government. -30-
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.radiosvoboda.org [Translated into English by the U.S.-
Ukraine Foundation. Our thanks to the USUF for sending this article.]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.204: ARTICLE NUMBER FOUR
Your comments about the Report are always welcome
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4. "FEARS OF VIOLENCE AS UKRAINE HEADS FOR POLLS"
Tom Warner in Ukraine, Financial Times, London, UK, Sat, Oct 30 2004
KIEV - Ukrainians are to vote for a new president tomorrow in a closely
contested presidential election that pits economic liberals and advocates of
European Union membership against those who prefer post-Soviet traditions
and strong ties to Russia.
The two leading candidates - Viktor Yanukovich, the conservative prime
minister, and Viktor Yushchenko, the pro-European opposition leader -
exchanged a final round of barbs yesterday amid concern that the violence
that has marred the campaign could continue during voting or the counting of
ballots.
Mr Yushchenko accused Mr Yanukovich and other authorities of planning to rig
votes. Leonid Kuchma, the outgoing president, who is backing Mr Yanukovich,
accused opposition groups of hoping to spark violent protests. Mr Yushchenko
said his family members had gone into hiding after receiving threats and
claimed he was aware of preparations by his opponents to flee the country.
The Pora youth group, linked to Mr Yushchenko's campaign, called off a rally
outside Kiev's Central Election Commission building on Monday morning after
the far-right Bratstvo group, which supports Mr Yanukovich, announced plans
to rally in the same location at the same time. Pora said it wanted to avoid
a repeat of an incident last weekend when about 100 young men attacked a
crowd of Mr Yushchenko's supporters outside the commission building.
Mr Yushchenko's campaign said it was receiving reports of groups of
"shaveheads" - a term that refers to tough young men in the lower ranks of
criminal gangs - being transported to Kiev and western Ukraine, where
opposition support is strongest. Gangs of young men disrupted a mayoral
election in western Ukraine in April by breaking into election commission
offices and stealing ballots.
Mr Yushchenko called on his supporters to rally at their local polling
stations tomorrow night until their ballots were counted and outside 225
regional election commission offices where results will be tabulated early
on Monday morning.
The most recent independent polls, published in mid-October, showed Mr
Yushchenko and Mr Yanukovich evenly matched, each with about 35 per cent
support and well ahead of 22 other candidates. Unless one of the candidates
wins 50 per cent of the vote, the two leaders will face each other again in
a run-off on November 21.
Andry Duda of the non-partisan Committee of Voters of Ukraine said the
government had made many technical maneuvers to boost Mr Yanukovich's
chances, including a decision announced yesterday to reinstate the validity
of old Soviet passports. Mr Duda said the decision contradicted the law on
presidential elections and was clearly aimed at boosting the number of older
voters, who may favour Mr Yanukovich.
About 3,000 foreign observers are expected to monitor the vote, including
about 750 from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe,
570 from the Russia-led Commonwealth of Independent States and 345 from
embassies. -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.204: ARTICLE NUMBER FIVE
Additional names for the distribution list are always welcome
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5. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT KUCHMA CRITICIZES JOURNALISTS
PROTESTING MEDIA REPRESSION IN UKRAINE
TV 5 Kanal, Kiev, in Ukrainian 29 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring, UK, in English, Friday, Oct 29, 2004
KIEV - [Presenter] President Leonid Kuchma thinks that most Ukrainian
journalists work honestly, and he described the signing of the agreement
on honest coverage of the election as a whim by a certain group of
journalists. He said this during his trip to Chernihiv Region, where he
attended the opening of a gas-distribution station.
[Kuchma] I had the feeling of not being exactly grateful, and that's putting
it mildly, towards those journalists who consider themselves "white men" and
assume the right to be the supreme judges in Ukraine. If anyone is unhappy
working anywhere, they can quit and go and work somewhere else.
[Journalists from a number of leading TV channels on 28 October issued a
protest against what they described as biased coverage of the presidential
election campaign and pledged to cover the 31 October poll objectively - see
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian 1016 gmt 28 Oct 04.] -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.204 ARTICLE NUMBER SIX
Additional names for the distribution list are always welcome
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6. IFJ CALLS FOR SOLIDARITY AS HUNGER STRIKE BY
JOURNALISTS INSPIRES UKRAINE PROTESTS AGAINST
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION MEDIA CENSORSHIP
International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
Brussels, Belgium, Friday, 29 October 2004
BRUSSELS - The International Federation of Journalists today called
on journalists around the world to send messages of support and
solidarity to colleagues at the Ukrainian independent Broadcaster,
Kanal 5, where over 250 staff have entered their fourth day of hunger
strike.
Yesterday the strike inspired journalists in the state media when 42 leading
journalists in four major TV stations issued a statement calling for an
assertion of professional ethics and complaining that "Contrary to the
standards of professional journalism, the authorities, with several owners
and managers of TV channels which they pressurize, are striving to conceal
important developments or to distort them."
One immediate result of the protests has been a commitment given this
morning by the authorities to allow journalists access to the count on
Sunday's Presidential election.
"This is a defining moment for Ukrainian journalism," said Aidan White,
General Secretary of the IFJ. "Ukrainian journalists in both the independent
and state controlled media are taking enormous personal risk for the
public's right to know. We owe it to them to show our support and we
urge all journalists' groups to send their messages of support today."
Media coverage of the campaign has been heavily distorted in favour of the
government candidate, Mr Yanukovich, and Kanal 5 is the only national
broadcaster that has tried to break this pattern by providing coverage to
the opposition candidate, Mr Yuschenko.
The hunger strike, which started on Monday, was provoked by a court
decision to revoke Kanal 5's license and freeze its bank accounts on 18
October.
The IFJ is asking its member unions in 117 countries to send messages of
solidarity to press officer Alyona Matusko at Channel 5, email:
amatu@5tv.com.ua.
An IFJ mission currently in the Ukraine met with the Kanal 5 journalists
yesterday and issued the attached report. The mission was sent to monitor
the conditions under which journalists were working during the election
campaign. A full report will be published in November.
Meanwhile Mr Kivalov, the head of the Central Election Commission today
gave assurances to members of the IFJ mission that journalists would be
allowed access to monitor the counting process on election day. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: To show your support contact Alyona Matusko, press officer
at Channel 5, e-mail, amatu@5tv.com.ua.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
For more information contact Oliver Money-Kyrle: +32 2 235 22 04
The IFJ represents more than 500,000 journalists in over 110 countries
To view this statement online please click here:
http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=2767&Language=EN
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.204: ARTICLE NUMBER SEVEN
Suggested articles for publication in the Report are always welcome
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7. AS STUDENT ACTIVISM IN UKRAINE GROWS,
REPRESSIONS INTENSIFY
OP-ED by V. Bandera, Member, Board of Directors
Ukrainian Federation of America (UFA)
Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, Friday, Oct 29, 2004
During the past few months, student involvement in civil rights
actions and the election monitoring in Ukraine has expanded and
become more effective. But this has been accompanied by rising
suppressive measures by "administrative methods," police and even
provocateurs.
Among several pro-democracy student organizations, the PORA
network has spread in major cities in the form of outdoor assemblies,
anti-corruption picketing and leafleting for honest and transparent
elections. The organization's name PORA means "IT'S TIME" and
sharply evokes the fiery patriotic poem "It's time for us to live for
Ukraine."
Like other student groups, PORA stresses adherence to peaceful
non-violent methods and strict respect for the existing laws and
constitutions guarantees. But the interference from university officials,
police and other "authorities" has been nonetheless rising in the form
of interference with peaceful assembly, marches on the nation's capital,
sit-ins and distribution of informational leaflets and posters.
Most recently this involves raids on PORA's meeting places,
confiscation of equipment and publications, detention of nabbed
students without cause, and unprovoked shake-downs and searches.
On the increase are also provocations in the form of acts of violence
by police agents and the discovery of drugs and weapons previously
planted by such agents. There are also incidents of beatings by police
and anonymous thugs. A recent "map of repressions" posted at
www.pora.org.ua chronicles the rise of such repressions against
PORA in 16 cities.
The threat to the civic rights of the young citizens has elicited
protective responses from the members of the parliament who still
retain their immunity, and the remaining free press that informs its
readers about notorious incidents. PORA itself is compiling and
publishing a list of officials and "authorities" who violate legal norms
and human rights of the students.
Most recently, the "Union of Ukrainian Students in Germany"
issued a declaration that "The human and civil rights situation in
Ukraine has become increasingly unbearable in the last few weeks."
Hence the students appeal to the Western press to expose this state
of affairs in Ukraine.
There is no doubt that student activism and its repression in
Ukraine is a significant factor not only for the current fierce pre-
election confrontation between a repressive regime and a democratic
bloc, but also for the long-term prospects for democracy in this
post-Soviet nation. -30- [Action Ukraine Monitoring Service]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No. 204: ARTICLE NUMBER EIGHT
Letters to the editor are always welcome
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8. VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH ACCUSES VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO
OF TRYING TO USURP POWER IN A VIOLENT WAY
Novyy Kanal television, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 29 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, Oct 29, 2004
[Presenter] The frontrunners in the presidential race have made the most
of the last day of campaigning to express their views. The pro-government
candidate, [Prime Minister] Viktor Yanukovych, made a strongly-worded
statement at the Artem works [defence industry plant in Kiev]. His opponent,
[opposition leader] Viktor Yushchenko, held a news conference. After their
discussion at a distance today, the candidates should stop campaigning.
[Prime Minister] Viktor Yanukovych, made a strongly-worded statement at
the Artem works [defence industry plant in Kiev]. His opponent, [opposition
leader] Viktor Yushchenko, held a news conference. After their discussion at
a distance today, the candidates should stop campaigning.
[Correspondent] The Artem works. Women in white-and-blue headscarf's
[Yanukovych's campaign colours]. Missiles for bomber aircraft - without
warheads and not for the Ukrainian armed forces, but still impressive. The
prime minister makes a tough statement in these surroundings. He asks his
supporters not to erect barricades, and urges the opposition to refrain from
action that may lead to bloodshed.
[Yanukovych] I do not understand the people who are trying to plunge the
country and its people into a protracted civic stand-off. I do not
understand the politicos who are dreaming about usurping power in a violent
way under the disguise of the so-called democratic opposition.
[Correspondent] Meanwhile, the People's Strength coalition [led by
Yushchenko and his centre-right ally Yuliya Tymoshenko], anticipating
possible acts of provocation, has changed its mind, deciding not to bring
its supporters to the Central Electoral Commission on election night.
Yushchenko's election agent, Mykola Tomenko, announced this. Tomenko
thinks that representatives of crime will gather outside the commission on
election night. Instead, Yushchenko's election headquarters has called on
everyone to show up at their polling stations at 2000 [local time].
[Yushchenko] We are asking the entire public to wait for the announcement
of the vote count at their polling stations and to be the first witnesses of
the political results.
[Correspondent] In addition, Yushchenko spoke about threats to the lives
of his family. He wore an orange-striped suit and an orange tie to match his
party colours. After the news conference he left for Sumy for a little bit
more canvassing. Candidate Yanukovych, also dressed in his coalition's blue
colours, visited Kiev's St Elijah's church, just as he promised. -30-
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Counter reading 0130-0300. Video shows the interior of the Artem works,
missiles; Yanukovych visiting, speaking to a crowd of women; Yushchenko
giving a news conference; Yanukovych crossing himself in church.]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.204: ARTICLE NUMBER NINE
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9.UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH
OPPOSES AUTONOMY FOR CRIMEAN TATARS
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian, 29 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring, UK, in English, Friday, October 29, 2004
KIEV - Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych is against setting
up a national autonomy in Crimea. He said this today, on the last
day of canvassing, in an address to voters at the Artem defence-sector
plant.
"We should not turn Ukraine into a spot of instability and social conflicts.
I am against implementing the project of Crimean-Tatar autonomy in
Crimea, which can lead to creating a zone of ethnic and social conflicts,"
he said.
Observers say that this was a move against Yanukovych's main rival,
Viktor Yushchenko. Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc includes the leaders
of Crimean Tatar Majlis [assembly], who have long tried to raise the issue
of creating a Crimean Tatar autonomy on the peninsula. However,
Yushchenko himself has never supported the idea. -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.204: ARTICLE NUMBER TEN
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10. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE YANUKOVYCH
DISMISSES TALK OF HIS CRIMINAL RECORD
Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian, 29 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, Oct 29, 2004
KIEV - The Ukrainian prime minister and presidential candidate, Viktor
Yanukovych, has said he views allegations on his criminal record as
political speculation. "I have answered all the questions in all the mass
media many times, and here today, outside a church, I will say that I am
clean before the law.
I have lived all my life like this. This is in all official documents. All
that my opponents say about me, all the dirt - let them answer before
God and their own conscience," Yanukovych said during a visit to St
Elijah's church in Kiev today.
After a prayer at the church, Yanukovych said that he prayed "for the
health of the Ukrainian people". "[I prayed] that we would have a peaceful
life, that we would unite on that path and walk together into our common
future," he said.
Asked whether the election will be fair, he said: "With God's help,
everything is going to be all right."
[Yanukovych served two prison terms in his youth, but has said that the
convictions were quashed and the records erased.] -30-
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.204: ARTICLE NUMBER ELEVEN
Additional names for the distribution list are always welcome
========================================================
11.UKRAINIAN VOTERS SAID RECEIVING LETTERS FROM RUSSIA
ADVISING THEM TO VOTE FOR VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH
The letter from Russia is in the best of traditions black public relations.
By Viktor Chyvokunya, "Anti-Yushchenko Letter Sent Out....."
Ukrayinska Pravda web site, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 28 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, Oct 29, 2004
KIEV - Ukrainian voters have been receiving letters from Russia advising
them to vote for Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in the presidential
election, an opposition web site has said. The letters attacking the main
opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko purported to come from an
organization of Ukrainians living in Russia, but the head of the
organization told the web site that no such advice could be officially given
by his organization and had not been. The signatory of the letters is a
Russian citizen attached to Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov's administration
and a CIS international election observer.
The following is the text of the article by Viktor Chyvokunya entitled
"Anti-Yushchenko letter sent out by... [ellipsis as published] Luzhkov's
subordinate. He is... [ellipsis as published] a CIS international observer"
published on Ukrayinska Pravda web site on 28 October. Subheadings
have been inserted editorially:
For several days now, people throughout Ukraine have been receiving
envelopes. Instead of white powder with poison, inside there is a single
sheet of paper with a brief text. In the best traditions of black PR.
"On behalf of over 10m people from Ukraine who are living in Russia, the
Council of Communities of Ukraine in Russia appeals to you," the letter
starts."[Opposition presidential candidate] Viktor Yushchenko is a person
who with other people's money has conducted a noisy election campaign
and, having sold out his independence, is ready to sell the independence
of Ukraine.
Producers and metal workers of Ukraine are behind [Prime Minister]
Viktor Yanukovych, people who are building the country's economy,
strengthening its independence," the author claims.
"A victory for Yanukovych means development of the economy, a rise
in living standards and strengthening of foreign policy. It means equal
economic relations with Russia, where over 10m Ukrainians live and
work, and where we sell our goods for millions of dollars!" the author
of the message promises the addressees.
"The arrival of Yushchenko in power is policy under the dictatorship of
American figures, the closure of borders and tension in relations with
Russia, higher prices for oil and gas and hence a general fall in living
standards and a growth in unemployment - everything that is now
happening in Georgia."
"Under Yushchenko the land will be bought up by Americans. Plants
and factories will close and the country will lose everything that it
gained in the years of independence and turn into a cesspool of the
West."
"The Ukrainian people did not fight so hard for what it gained in the
struggle for independence only to lose it in an instant... [ellipsis as
published]"
"We, the Ukrainian community, hope that common sense, experience
of life and the great wisdom of the Ukrainian people will help people to
make the correct choice."
The letter ends with the signature of "V.M. Khrystenko, deputy chairman
of the Council of Communities of Ukraine in Russia".
WHO IS BEHIND THE LETTER?
Of course, it was very unexpected to receive the creation of schizoid
poets from the neighbouring state right in the letter box. But the cost of
the issue - the election of the president of Ukraine - is very high. And so,
one would like the author to be honest with his readers.
What has Ukrayinska Pravda managed to find out? Such a person as
Volodymyr Mykolayovych Khrystenko does indeed exist. In a conversation
with us he confirmed that he was the author of this work.
Khrystenko heads the mission of the Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv at the
administration of Moscow. Such a strange job does exist. His contact
details are even placed on the Internet page of the department of
international relations of Moscow Region.
But it looks as if truth and honesty end with that. And so, in his letter
Khrystenko is openly campaigning for Yanukovych and against Yushchenko.
Thereby he is violating the law on elections of the president of Ukraine.
Since Khrystenko is a citizen of Russia! And he has no right to vote in
these elections. And for that reason he cannot advise Ukrainians who to
vote for.
The further we go, the more there is. Khrystenko issues his appeal on behalf
of the "Council of Communities of Ukraine in Russia", where he works as its
deputy [chairman].
Ukrayinska Pravda phoned the leader of that organization in Moscow,
Mykola (?Chelombytko), to clarify when the meeting was held that
authorized Khrystenko to write letters to Ukrainian voters with a print run
of millions.
It turned out that there had been no such meeting. Mr (?Chelombytko) was
very cautious during the conversation, but he said that "Khrystenko did not
receive any authorization from the Council of Communities", and the board
"did not meet in session" over the question of campaigning for Yanukovych.
"The community is a public organization. We are not politicians. Each one
of us may sympathize individually with one of the candidates, but the
organization is not political. And we do not have the right to campaign for
or against a candidate," he said.
The third and most interesting thing is that the author of the letter to
Ukrainians, V.M. Khrystenko, is... [ellipsis as published] an international
observer at these elections of the president of Ukraine. And in general, in
accordance with his status, he does not have the right to make such
statements as appear in the text.
MORE LETTERS POSSIBLE
Ukrayinska Pravda managed to find Mr Khrystenko in Mykolayiv. He
apologized that he could not speak, since he was taking part in a rally(!)
In the few minutes that the conversation lasted he confirmed that that he
had indeed written the letter - and not just the one! (Will we again be
looking for new white envelopes in our letter boxes?)
Khrystenko does not know the print run of the letter, since the community
managed that. In other words, again we have a legal entity of another state
actively interfering in the Ukrainian elections. Well, he does not consider
his letter to be campaigning, since all he did was to "express his own
viewpoint".
When Ukrayinska Pravda asked Khrystenko for which organization he
was an international observer, he quickly said goodbye and hung up. No
point, since it was very easy to find out - the information is placed on the
CEC [Central Electoral Commission] site.
So Mr Khrystenko, the author of a million (word or words garbled) work,
is an international observer from the Commonwealth of Independent States.
It now looks as if it is the job of the CEC to clarify whether Khrystenko's
actions comply with the obligations of an international observer rather than
a participant in those elections.
Some other questions can be added to this story. First, the anti-Yushchenko
letter contains no information about who originated it, as is required by
the election law on campaign material. Second, the sources of the funding
for this action and its scale in general are of interest.
The letters were sent out by post, and the initiators clearly used a
database about 15 years out of date. One person I know said that the letter
had come to an address at which he had not lived since 1988! Perhaps the
addresses were taken from the archive of the KGB of the USSR?
And finally, after the scandal of the distribution of false letters against
Yushchenko in February-March 2003, there was a ban on distributing
political campaign material by post. Nobody has reported that this ban has
been lifted. But these anti-Yushchenko letters from Russia are being sent
out precisely in this way. -30- [The Action Ukraine Monitoring Service]
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ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.204: ARTICLE NUMBER TWELVE
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12. VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO COMPLAINS TO KUCHMA OF
"PHANTOM" VOTER TRAINS TO DISRUPT THE POLLS
UNIAN news agency, Kiev, in Ukrainian, 29 Oct 04
BBC Monitoring Service, UK, in English, Friday, Oct 29, 2004
Ukrainian opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko has appealed
to President Leonid Kuchma to take action against vote-rigging schemes. In a
statement disseminated by his press service, Yushchenko said top transport
officials were involved in setting up special trains intended to transport
tens of thousands of people in the election period to disrupt the polls.
Yushchenko reminded Kuchma of his personal responsibility for the fair
conduct of elections. The following is the text of a report by the Ukrainian
news agency UNIAN:
KIEV ------ Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko has
appealed to Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma not to allow massive
vote-rigging or a disruption of the election, in which state agencies may be
involved, such as the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the
Ukrzaliznytsya state railways, UNIAN has learnt from Yushchenko's press
service.
"Today Ukraine is facing a choice of its future. On 31 October, the
Ukrainian people will elect a new head of state. It is the main
responsibility of all participants in the election process and you as the
incumbent president to make sure that the election is fair. The legitimacy
of newly-elected authorities is not only a legal but also a moral category,"
Yushchenko said.
"That is why you, as the guarantor of the constitutional rights and
liberties of citizens, must use your power to ensure that the election is
conducted legally and that new authorities are born as a result of an honest
and conscious choice by Ukrainians, not as a result of vote-rigging or
falsification," Yushchenko believes.
"Ukrainian society is convinced today: the election campaign is far from
democratic standards because brutal pressure, persecution and muzzling of
journalists have become the norm for the progovernment candidate.
Nevertheless, any cynicism has boundaries!" Yushchenko stated.
He said that his election headquarters received information that the
implementation of a plan had begun to rig the vote on a mass scale and to
disrupt the election. State agencies are involved in this, in particular the
Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ukrzaliznytsya state
railways.
"Are you aware, Mr President, that `special trains' have been formed at the
Lviv, Southwestern, Dnieper and Odessa railways to transport tens of
thousands of unknown individuals between 29 October and 2 November
2004?" Yushchenko inquires. "My team has documents in its possession
which may shed light for you on illegal activities by your subordinates. We
have the numbers of these railway phantoms and information on their routes,"
he said.
"Mr President, I demand that you immediately ban any `special trains' at the
railways for the election period; [I also demand] that you check information
about the personal participation of [Transport Minister] Heorhiy Kyrpa and
the top leadership of the Ministry of Transport and Communications and
Ukrzaliznytsya in this scheme," Yushchenko said. He believes that all those
responsible should be sacked from their posts and be brought to justice for
their actions.
[A report by Glavred, Kiev, in Russian 1553 gmt 29 Oct 04 said plans were
afoot to transport thousands of government supporters by train to
pro-opposition cities to vote against Yushchenko.] -30-
========================================================
ACTION UKRAINE REPORT-04, No.204: ARTICLE NUMBER THIRTEEN
Checks to support The Action Ukraine Report are always welcome
========================================================
13. "IS UKRAINE FACING A MASSIVE UPRISING?"
Opposition supporters prepare to hit the streets after tomorrow's
vote, which they say may be rigged to favour those in power
By Mark MacKinnon, The Globe and Mail
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Sat, Oct 30, 2004 - Page A17
KIEV -- Standing in light rain yesterday, watching as several
hundred students protested outside the Interior Ministry, Stepan
Khmara couldn't help but hope that things are about to change very
fast in his country.
A veteran opposition legislator in Ukraine's parliament, Mr. Khmara
doesn't think the landscape will be altered by tomorrow's
presidential election. He believes President Leonid Kuchma's regime
will falsify the results to deny victory to the front-runner, Viktor
Yushchenko. The change, he believes, will flow from what happens
on the streets after results are announced.
"I think the regime will fall," he says, referring to demonstrations
that are expected to draw hundreds of thousands to protest against a
campaign many Ukrainians say is one of the dirtiest ever. "A very
smooth revolution has started. No regime can stay in power against
such mass protests."
It's a scenario many here are embracing. Talk of a popular,
peaceful, revolution on the streets of Kiev is so advanced that the
uprising already has a name. If it's successful, they say, it will
be quickly dubbed the Chestnut Revolution after the trees that line
Kiev's central Khreschatyk Street -- the place of rallies 14 years
ago that called for an end to the Soviet Union.
This time the goal will not be Ukraine's independence from Moscow,
rather the end of 10 years of quasi-authoritarian rule by Mr.
Kuchma, who is seeking to hand over power to his handpicked
successor, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich. Mr. Kuchma's regime
has been named one of the most corrupt on the planet by
Transparency International. There are long-standing allegations that
the outgoing president personally ordered the murder of an investigative
journalist in 2000.
International observers have declared the election process deeply
flawed, and Mr. Yushchenko's supporters have said in advance that
they plan to take to the streets after polls close. Ukrainians
yesterday were scrambling to buy hard currency as a hedge against
instability, and the main question is how authorities will react in
a country where traces of the old Soviet police state remain.
Although protest leaders have been preaching non-violence, Mr.
Kuchma has threatened to declare a state of emergency and use
force to restore order. "It's unpredictable what will happen," said
Natalya Belitser, a researcher with the Polyp Orlyk Institute for
Democracy, a Kiev think tank. "Our authorities themselves have
no clear idea what they will do. They're in a panic."
If there is a Chestnut Revolution, either this week or after a run-
off vote that may be held on Nov. 21, it will be said that it was
born in a cramped basement off Mikhailovsky Square in central Kiev,
where student activists in yellow Che Guevara T-shirts gather each
day under a banner that reads "We're not afraid."
Members of Pora (Ukrainian for "it's time") say they admire Che not
for his socialist politics or his violent tactics, but simply as a
fellow revolutionary who got the job done. "Che Guevara is known
worldwide as a person who represents revolution," said Yuriy
Polyukhovych, a 23-year-old economics graduate and Pora co-
ordinator for Kiev.
In many ways, the battle between authorities and the would-be
revolutionaries has been going on for some time. Pora, which has
posters and graffiti all over Kiev calling for people to take to the
streets after tomorrow's vote, has for weeks been locked in
confrontation with the government, which has raided the group's
offices around the country, detaining dozens of activists.
The group, which claims 10,000 active members and many times that
number of supporters, applied to hold a 500,000-person rally in
downtown Kiev tomorrow night -- a request the city rejected. The
demonstration is scheduled to go ahead anyway, and the city has
responded by erecting a metal fence around the offices of the
Central Election Commission, where the marchers intend to focus
their protest.
"There won't be any revolution here," police chief Oleksandr Milenin
said. "We are ready for the unexpected."
Police say they found explosives and counterfeit money in some
Pora offices, charges Mr. Polyukhovych scoffs at. "These are just
provocations," he said. "They're afraid of people who are in favour
of free and fair elections."
The revolt, if it happens, would not be entirely homegrown. It
would be the latest in a chain reaction that started four years ago in
Belgrade when Serbians, led by a student group called Otpor
(Serbian for resistance) toppled Slobodan Milosevic.
After that astonishing success, Otpor activists realized they had
something valuable and even transferable -- a how-to-dispose-of-a-
dictator playbook that turned out to be in demand across Eastern
Europe.
Otpor members -- funded by organizations connected to billionaire
financier George Soros -- fanned out across the continent, giving
training sessions in non-violent resistance to like-minded youths in
several former Soviet republics. These were people who had expected
liberal democracy to follow when the Soviet Union collapsed 13 years
ago, only to see new authoritarian leaders step into the ensuing
power vacuum.
Last fall, in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, tens of
thousands of people took to the streets of the capital, Tbilisi, in
the wake of a falsified parliamentary election. They stayed there
for weeks until President Eduard Shevardnadze stepped down to
avoid bloodshed. Leading the demonstrations was a group called
Kmara (Enough), a youth organization modelled on Otpor that
emulated the Serbian group's pacifist street tactics during what
became known as the Rose Revolution.
Now, Otpor members are in Kiev, agitating against Mr. Kuchma's
regime and advising Pora. Otpor member Marko Markovic, a Croat
who works out of the offices of a local pro-democracy group called
Znayu and has a large poster of Mr. Yushchenko over his desk, says
Ukraine is ready to follow the path already taken in Georgia and Serbia.
The desk next to his is empty. Alexander Maric, a Serbian national,
used to sit there until he was detained at Kiev's Borispol Airport
and deported from the country, named a threat to national security.
"The authorities are scared," Mr. Markovic says with a wide
smile. "That means we're winning."
In the end, it will not be Pora or a few Otpor activists who bring
crowds into the streets on Sunday night, but Mr. Yushchenko himself.
The opposition leader has genuine popularity in Kiev and areas west
of the capital, while Mr. Yanukovich's support is based in the
Russia-leaning industrial belt in the east of the country. Despite
the administrative help he has received, he trails by several
percentage points in most opinion polls.
Mr. Yushchenko, who himself once served as prime minister under
Mr. Kuchma, has found new fire in his belly since an alleged
poisoning incident last month that sent him to hospital for more
than three weeks.
When he returned to the campaign, his face disfigured, the
charismatic pro-Western reformer sharpened his attacks on the
administration, which he says tried to have him killed. He has
repeatedly sought to demonstrate strength by summoning tens of
thousands of supporters to weekend demonstrations in Kiev.
But his campaign has been hindered by the poisoning incident,
restricted access to the media and the refusal by airport staff in
several cities to allow his campaign plane to land. Judging by
recent statements, he seems to have given up all hope that
tomorrow's vote will go fairly.
"We can change the current circumstances only through massive
public action," he said this week. "And in the case of attempts to
falsify the outcome of the vote, I will be calling on the nation to do
that." -30- [The Action Ukraine Report Monitoring Service]
========================================================
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PUBLISHER AND EDITOR
Mr. E. Morgan Williams, Executive Director, Ukrainian Federation of America
(UFA); Coordinator, The Action Ukraine Coalition (AUC);
Senior Advisor, Government Relations, U.S.-Ukraine Foundation (USUF);
Advisor, Ukraine-U.S. Business Council, Washington, D.C.;
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