A wish and a prayer for the Ukrainian democrats, please

A House Divided
The Orange Revolution is carving new fault lines between Old and New Europe that have nothing to do with war in Iraq.

Prosecutor General closes criminal cases against Tymoshenko and her relatives
Jan 28, 15:10

Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office has closed all criminal cases touching on acting Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Some of the cases go back eight years.

"It's enough. Let's put an end to it," said Prosecutor General Svyatoslav Piskun.

Piskun made the announcement on Jan. 28 in Kyiv.

He said that the cases were initiated in 1996, and looking into them has taken eight years. He said charges relating to Tymoshenko have been dropped in the United States.

Piskun underlined that criminal proceedings relating to Tymoshenko's relatives and closest circle had earlier been closed by the courts because of a lack of a corpus delicti.

"Having weighed the situation, we also dropped charges pertaining to Yulia Tymoshenko, because there isn't a corpus delicti in what she did," Piskun said.

Piskun said that the fact that the Rada had refused to countenance PGO appeals to arrest Tymoshenko testified that the charges were without basis.

The Prosecutor General also said no one is to blame for the long duration of the investigations, because the "process was moving along."

"A person shouldn't be terrorized for eight years. A person can't live his whole life under investigation," Piskun said, adding, "Therefore, I said enough. Let's put an end to it."

The Prosecutor General mentioned that the law is supposed to function under a presumption of innocence, and that if law enforcement organs aren't able to prove the guilt of the accused, then the case should be closed.

Piskun said the case had been closed before President Viktor Yushchenko named Tymoshenko acting prime minister. The decision, he said, had been taken in December, right after he became the Prosecutor General.

Despite the scotched cases in Ukraine and the possibility that she'll get to run the government, Tymoshenko remains in trouble in Russia. She's been mentioned in a Russian Interpol probe, in connection with charges that she allegedly bribed members of the Russian security services.

On Wednesday, Russia's Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov announced that charges would not be dropped against Tymoshenko, and that decisions about possibly arresting her would be made by Russian courts.

Asked whether the Tymoshenko investigations were politically motivated, Svyatoslav Piskin said: "I don't know. I didn't start them. I ended them, and thank god."

Thursday February 10
Ukraine's Yushchenko probably poisoned by government: attorney general [/size]

Ukraine's attorney general reportedly says he has gathered proof that President Viktor Yushchenko was deliberately poisoned in a plot probably involving the government.

"There is no doubt that this was a planned act, which probably involved people from the government. Not everybody has access to such substances," Svyatoslav Piskun was quoted as saying in the Thursday edition of Der Standard daily, published on its website late Wednesday.

Piskun said he was in Vienna to speak with the doctors here who treated Yushchenko after he fell ill on September 6 while campaigning in the country's bitterly contested presidential vote.

The same doctors said in December that tests had shown Yushchenko, who was left with blisters and scars on his face, had suffered dioxin poisoning and said they suspected foul play.

"Today I obtained documents here that give us the medical proof that Yuschenko was poisoned," Piskun said, adding that the medical reports were compiled by experts in Austria, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands.

Yushchenko was probably poisoned around the time he attended a dinner in early September at which the former deputy chief of the Ukrainian secret service was present, he said.

"We have always known roughly when the poison was administered. But the meeting today with Doctor Nikolai Korpan, the doctor of President Yushchenko, brought us some proof. The time probably coincides with the dinner, but we cannot say that it was exactly this day," he told the newspaper.

Asked whether he had specific poisoning suspects in mind, he said: "The circle of suspects is so big that I do not want to leave anybody out and hurt their feelings."

Ukrainian public prosecutors in October dismissed Yushchenko's health crisis as a case of food poisoning but reopened their investigation after the Austrian doctors revealed their findings, shortly before he went on to defeat Viktor Yanukovich in a rerun presidential vote late last year.

Yushchenko claimed from the start that he was the victim of poisoning by political opponents, telling reporters: "The aim was to kill me."

On page 11 [of Dutch newspaper Trouw], "Doubts about 'resolution' Gongadze murder"; Gongadze was the critical Ukrainian journalist who was found beheaded in a forest a few years ago. Tapes that turned up soon after featured then-President Kuchma ordering to have Gongadze silenced; protest demonstrations, then still unsuccessful, followed. Post-Orange revolution, the new President Yushchenko ordered the case reopened and last Tuesday the Justice department announced the arrest of two former high-ranking police officials - a colonel and a general. Gongadze's car was found yesterday. The presidential bodyguard who 'outed' the Kuchma tapes and Gongadze's widow, both now in the US, still expressed scepticism about whether those who ordered the murder would be punished too, however; the former, Melnichenko, is refusing to return to testify because he fears for his life.

AMS Newsletter
The digital newsletter of the Alfred Mozer Stichting

Extra edition: report on a unique event!
May 19th. 2005

Wave of Resistance: the birth of a new International!

On Saturday 14th. May De Balie in Amsterdam was filled with an audience of almost 300 people, to experience debates and documentaries about the rise of civic movements in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. An impression of this sold-out event was also shown on NOVA national Dutch television.

By: Arjen Berkvens; Director & Alma Balesic, Maartje Schrama, project assistants Alfred Mozer Stichting

Wave of resistance Quotes:

-> Girgi Kandelaki (Kmara, Georgia): as Lenin said; revolution is organisation, organisation and organisation."

-> Vasila Inojatova (Birlik, Uzbekistan)…since 9/11 you can blame Muslims for everything. That is what Islam Karimov does: he misuses the war against terrorism. Freedoms? Freedoms do not exist. In Uzbekistan the authorities fill in the ballot papers."

-> Oleh Kyriyenko (Pora! Ukraine) in reaction to the accusation that Pora! Accepted American funds: In case a child is dying and the only thing that can safe it is the kidney of a serial killer: would the mother refuse the kidney out of principle?"

-> André Gerrits (University of Amsterdam): International democracy promotion is partly altruistic and partly foreign policy self-interest. The idea is that it is advantageous to all: for a fist full of dollars democracy promotion strengthens the spread of democracy creates international stability and prosperity."

-> Mike Staresinic (Freedom House, Serbia Director): Congratulations on an outstanding forum for exploring this specific type of political change."

-> Arjen Berkvens, Maartje Schrama and Alma Balesic (AMS) Our conclusion is that money isn't everything. Without the power, bravery and sheer persistence of the people of these countries, nothing is possible. The credits for change therefore should go to the people of Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine and not to foreign powers."

Introduction

After the "electoral revolutions" in Serbia (2000), Georgia (2003) and Ukraine (2004), the civic youth movements that were in the frontline of the successful democratic revolutions received full attention. Representatives of OTPOR! (Serbia), PORA! (Ukraine), KMARA (Georgia), Yox (Azerbaijan), Zubr (Belarus), and activists from various organisations from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Albania, Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation were therefore invited to The Netherlands to talk about their long and painful struggle, their successes and their failures. Wave of Resistance was an event where they met representatives of political parties, universities, NGO's and political foundations. In workshops, private talks and after documentaries they debated their similarities, differences, allies and enemies, past, present and future. 300 people were present to share their experience and trigger them with arguments and questions.

Where activists learn, the regimes learn too!

Their struggle is still going on, under varying circumstances; sometimes under almost absolute dictatorship, sometimes in a more hybrid society where elements of liberal democracy and presidential authoritarianism go hand in hand. The fact that these circumstances differ so much makes it hard to generalise, but still some common elements are present in all countries. It seems that an "International Movement" of civic youth organizations has been created. Kmara in Georgia learned from OTPOR! in Serbia. ZUBR activists from Belarus and KMARA and OTPOR! veterans went to Ukraine to help out PORA! to spread their philosophy of non-violent resistance. The shadow-side is also visible. Where activists learn, the regimes learn too. They know what to expect and take measures to counter newly founded civic youth movements. They also take measures to stop international interference. International democracy support is a growing "industry" and receives more and more attention. The Alfred Mozer Foundation supported PORA! with training for instance. Freedom House supported OTPOR! and others. Critical questions are raised about this involvement. Is it morally right that democracy support is in the self-interest of the main western powers: the USA and the EU? Why do we support some and hesitate to support others? Is democracy more important than stability? Should the EU and the USA interfere in countries where The Russian Federation also has an interest? Do we harm these movements by paying too much attention to the international support, while in fact it is only a small contribution that can only have an effect in fertile soil?

The documentaries

The documentaries provided an intriguing insight in the movements in Serbia (Bringing down a Dictator by Steve York), Georgia, Serbia and Ukraine (The Anatomy of a Revolution by Alex Shprintsen), Ukraine (Pora!/ It's time! By Arnold van Bruggen a.o.) and Belarus (Ne Tarmazi by Gerhard Stoel a.o.) Interesting was that the documentaries also showed the differences in approach by the filmmakers and the countries they came from. From The Anatomy of a Revolution, a sceptic Canadian Documentary criticizing the US involvement in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine, to a fast non-critical American promotion documentary: Bringing down a dictator showing the strategy and inspiration of Otpor! presented by Martin Sheen.

The Anatomy of a Revolution (introduced by Alex Shprintsen himself) compared the strategies of the three movements. This led to a discussion about the supposed similarities between these movements and whether the revolution in Serbia was a blueprint for revolutions elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Pora!/It's Time experienced its premiere at this event. The makers of the film went to Kiev during the demonstrations at Maidan, the main square in Kiev, and filmed the demonstrators, their activities, the tent camp and how they eventually won. This short film will be used as a campaign instruction movie for BKB Campaign Company. It clearly gives you an insight in the enormous creative capabilities of the young PORA activists.

Ne Tarmazi compared the three student associations in Belarus, Zubr, The Belarus Student Association (BSA) and the Belarusian Patriotic Youth Union that is loyal to Lukashenka. This documentary was probably the most impressive. It showed under which circumstances Zubr and BSA fight against the so-called Lukashism of the regime. It gave an impression of underground actions and the difficulties of fighting for democracy under circumstances where there is almost no freedom to manoeuvre. It also raised questions about the use of Belarus national symbols (red and white flag and language) as opposed to the Soviet symbols and the use of the Russian language by the regime.

In addition, two short documentaries were presented to our audience, which were made by Otpor! and Zubr about their respective movements.

The debate

The debate started at 20.00 hours and lasted till 22.30. It included three sessions. First was titled Success Stories, activists from Otpor!, Kmara and Pora! answered questions from the chairman Arjen Berkvens (Director AMS) and the audience. The second session, Inspired Movements, was led by our guests from Zubr, Yox and Yabloko.

Although these movements had and have to operate under different circumstances, the similarities were striking. All are non-hierarchical, use humour as their main weapon, are non-violent and are not connected to any political party (except in the very specific Russian case.) Gene SharpConcluding remarks

Although everybody agrees that substantial support is given (estimates are that almost 2 billion euros is spend on all sorts of democracy support annually), the effects of it are strongly debated. Some like to play it down, some like to exaggerate the importance. Others stress the fact that money isn't everything. Transfer of knowledge, training and facilitating the dissemination of information all play a major role. Besides that the human capital is crucial. Later that evening the Dutch news programme NOVA showed an item on the Wave of resistance with interviews and impressions. Their main argument was that these revolutions are instigated by the USA and strongly backed by US money. This is certainly a too simplistic way of looking at the events and does not take into account the influence the European Union and The Russian federation also have in the countries discussed. The Russians spend more than one billion dollar to back Yanukovich in Ukraine, outspending the USA and the EU by far. Still Yushchenko and his coalition won. We have to avoid simplistic schemes and overcome our ideological biases.

Our conclusion is that money isn't everything. Without the power, bravery and sheer persistence of the people of these countries, nothing is possible. The credits for change therefore should go to the people of Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine and not to foreign powers.

THE TIMES
July 01, 2005

Suspicion shifts from Russia over poison used on leader
BY GILES WHITTELL
The investigation continues but Viktor Yuschenko's would-be killer found his dioxin in UkraineTOXIC WASTE
399BC Socrates was forced to drink a vial of hemlock when condemned for corrupting the youth of Athens with his teachings
AD54 The Roman Emperor Claudius was murdered by his wife Agrippina, who fed him a dish of mushrooms laced with poison. Her son, Nero, succeeded him
1815 Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on St Helens. A study found abnormal traces of arsenic in his hair, suggesting that he had been given non-lethal doses to hasten his death

Simferopol Stories: Bent cops and language wars in a divided town

By Mary Dejevsky
Published: 17 July 2005

If charm and elegance define your idea of a desirable city, Simferopol will not meet your requirements. It is almost as though this scruffily rambling conurbation has been called upon to balance the delights of the increasingly chic resorts just an hour's drive over mountains to the south. In so many ways, the capital of the Crimea has caught the short straw.

It has the airport, railway station and road junction through which most holiday-makers must pass to reach the sea; at any one time a large number of those thronging its streets are just passing through. It was only lightly touched by Ukraine's Orange revolution. Lenin still lords it over the square in front of the government buildings. And, although capitalism has made its mark, with casinos, money-changing booths and cafes every few yards, the city is undisguisedly poor. Jewellery shops tempt customers inside with offers to exchange old baubles for new and a store has cornered the market in "second-hand European clothes".

Its mixed identity falls short of feeling cosmopolitan. While the rest of Ukraine is divided relatively neatly, with Russian-speakers predominating in the east and Ukrainian-speakers in the West, in the Crimea there is a three-way split: Russians, Ukrainians and the Tatar population compete for public money, space and political power. After the Orange revolution, the Russians, at almost 60 per cent, feel displaced. The Ukrainians feel at once vindicated and apprehensive, while the Tatars, who started returning in the 1980s from the Central Asian exile into which they had been brutally forced by Stalin, are trying to reclaim their old land, or any land at all. All these tensions converge in Simferopol.

* * *

Two blonde girls in their late teens sit at a card table on Rosa Luxembourg street, chatting and preening in the sunshine. The placard behind them explains that they are collecting signatures for a petition; 220,000 already collected in two weeks. Its purpose is to press for an amendment to the Ukrainian constitution that would enshrine Russian as joint official language with Ukrainian. To pass, an amendment needs the support of three-quarters of Ukraine's 400 MPs.

The petition is designed to put pressure on local MPs. "If they don't support it, we'll campaign to throw them out," says one girl. With parliamentary elections in March, and Ukraine still a simmering political cauldron, this is no idle threat. An elderly woman stops to sign. She complains that all prescription labels are now in Ukrainian and she cannot understand them.

* * *

Russians have treated the Crimean resorts as their summer playground since the 19th century, and still do, even though they now have to cross a border, change their roubles into hryvny and pay Ukraine's higher prices. With car ownership now common, thousands of Russians make the long trek south at this time of year. Reading between the lines of the local newspaper, it seems that their passage through Simferopol and its environs has become a nice little earner for the local traffic police.

After complaints from Russian drivers that they were being importuned by bent Ukrainian cops - accusations hotly denied by local police chiefs - encounters between police and drivers were secretly recorded.

The result? More than 500 "breaches of discipline" registered across 365 encounters. The police authority is now appealing to holidaymakers not to "tempt" the cops or to break the law by "offering a bribe".

If things don't improve, Ukraine's Interior Minister, Yuri Lutsenko, has threatened to drive around in a Russian-registered car to test the southern charm of his officers for himself. He says that if he comes across any rude or corrupt behaviour, he will withdraw all the traffic cops from Crimea for the summer.

"Whoopee," says a local reporter, "then we really will have a ball."

If charm and elegance define your idea of a desirable city, Simferopol will not meet your requirements. It is almost as though this scruffily rambling conurbation has been called upon to balance the delights of the increasingly chic resorts just an hour's drive over mountains to the south. In so many ways, the capital of the Crimea has caught the short straw.

It has the airport, railway station and road junction through which most holiday-makers must pass to reach the sea; at any one time a large number of those thronging its streets are just passing through. It was only lightly touched by Ukraine's Orange revolution. Lenin still lords it over the square in front of the government buildings. And, although capitalism has made its mark, with casinos, money-changing booths and cafes every few yards, the city is undisguisedly poor. Jewellery shops tempt customers inside with offers to exchange old baubles for new and a store has cornered the market in "second-hand European clothes".

Its mixed identity falls short of feeling cosmopolitan. While the rest of Ukraine is divided relatively neatly, with Russian-speakers predominating in the east and Ukrainian-speakers in the West, in the Crimea there is a three-way split: Russians, Ukrainians and the Tatar population compete for public money, space and political power. After the Orange revolution, the Russians, at almost 60 per cent, feel displaced. The Ukrainians feel at once vindicated and apprehensive, while the Tatars, who started returning in the 1980s from the Central Asian exile into which they had been brutally forced by Stalin, are trying to reclaim their old land, or any land at all. All these tensions converge in Simferopol.

* * *

Two blonde girls in their late teens sit at a card table on Rosa Luxembourg street, chatting and preening in the sunshine. The placard behind them explains that they are collecting signatures for a petition; 220,000 already collected in two weeks. Its purpose is to press for an amendment to the Ukrainian constitution that would enshrine Russian as joint official language with Ukrainian. To pass, an amendment needs the support of three-quarters of Ukraine's 400 MPs.
The petition is designed to put pressure on local MPs. "If they don't support it, we'll campaign to throw them out," says one girl. With parliamentary elections in March, and Ukraine still a simmering political cauldron, this is no idle threat. An elderly woman stops to sign. She complains that all prescription labels are now in Ukrainian and she cannot understand them.

* * *

Russians have treated the Crimean resorts as their summer playground since the 19th century, and still do, even though they now have to cross a border, change their roubles into hryvny and pay Ukraine's higher prices. With car ownership now common, thousands of Russians make the long trek south at this time of year. Reading between the lines of the local newspaper, it seems that their passage through Simferopol and its environs has become a nice little earner for the local traffic police.

After complaints from Russian drivers that they were being importuned by bent Ukrainian cops - accusations hotly denied by local police chiefs - encounters between police and drivers were secretly recorded.

The result? More than 500 "breaches of discipline" registered across 365 encounters. The police authority is now appealing to holidaymakers not to "tempt" the cops or to break the law by "offering a bribe".

If things don't improve, Ukraine's Interior Minister, Yuri Lutsenko, has threatened to drive around in a Russian-registered car to test the southern charm of his officers for himself. He says that if he comes across any rude or corrupt behaviour, he will withdraw all the traffic cops from Crimea for the summer.

"Whoopee," says a local reporter, "then we really will have a ball."

Revolutions are dangerous things, even when they are peaceful and bathed in an orange glow. Six months after Viktor Yushchenko's inauguration as democratically elected president of Ukraine, his government seems to have lost much of its early sense of purpose.

On the surface, the capital, Kiev is still high on the euphoria of "people power". Independence Square is a dawn to dusk festival starring hundreds of Ukrainians from all over the world feeling good about being Ukrainian.

You want a book by or about Yushchenko? No problem. A bust, a portrait? Pick the size, and take one of the Prime Minister, Julia Tymoshenko, while you are at it. The religious pictures and small, reproduction icons are laid out adjacent to the portraits of the revolutionary duo: the icons of yesterday and today, side by side.

But the chat behind the stalls is no longer uncritical. "Were you there?" One excited visitor asked a rough-hewn seller of folk music CDs. "Yes," he replied slowly, "and the crowds were unbelievable: they covered the square and went way down the Khreshchatik" (Kiev's renowned main thoroughfare). He went on: "And you know what: they set up stalls selling beer every few yards and there weren't any loos, and you can just imagine what it was like."

The disappointment is echoed in the columns of newspapers that had once been lavish in their support for the orange batallions. The revolution belonged in part to them, because it was they who insisted the elections conform to the law and then ensured that they did.

But it also belonged to Ukraine's young urban population, who saw in Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko not only a different future for themselves and their country but a future in which they and Ukraine would be part of Europe. Of course, it was always going to be hard for the orange revolution to live up to the expectations invested in it. And, like the somewhat hazy and idealised vision of Europe, those expectations were often ill-defined. So far as the intelligentsia was concerned, they hoped above all for an end to the pervasive corruption. Many journalists hoped for the freedom to report as they wished, and without any financial constraints.

Such aspirations were utopian. But many Ukrainians - not only those who had flocked in person to Independence Square - had convinced themselves they had accomplished a revolution and thought that after December everything would be possible.

For those now swelling the ranks of doubters, all that the new government has produced to reward their heroic efforts in the snow are price rises, leadership squabbles and a series of excited and ill thought-out policy moves based on a free-market ideology very few Ukrainians fully understand.

Top of the list of misfired government initiatives is the review of earlier company privatisations, which were widely seen as corrupt. To the population at large, it seemed so simple: just confiscate the ill-gotten gains from the millionaire oligarchs and spread the largesse around. For an elected government, operating - or trying to operate - in an international context, however, it is not so easy. How can privatisations be reversed without destabilising Ukraine's fragile market and discouraging wary foreign investors? The prime example is the country's largest steel mill, Kryvorizhstal, sold last year for what was regarded as an unfairly low price to a consortium that included the then president's son-in-law and, in effect, renationalised last month. A new auction has been promised but the timing and mechanics seem to change by week, if not by the day, and lawsuits are already looming. Responsibility for reviewing privatisations rests with the prime minister, Julia Tymoshenko, herself a first-wave "oligarch" who has sworn henceforward to work by the book.
The President and Prime Minister had intended that 14 economic bills would be passed into law before the summer recess. They were crucial to fulfilling the conditions for membership of the World Trade Organisation and an integral part, too, of the "action plan" drafted by the European Union as a preliminary to agreeing a start date for talks on EU accession.

In the last week before the recess, however, the Rada descended into shouting and brawling between pro-Yushchenko reformers and their opponents.

Worse, all the antagonism produced only eight new laws. The one regarded as most crucial for WTO membership, on copyright, was passed but the rest have been held over until the autumn.

If, as some expect, the March elections reflect disillusionment with Mr Yushchenko and do not produce a more reformist parliament, then any chance of legislating for serious restructuring of the economy, let alone of early EU accession, could be lost for several years.

Among Mr Yushchenko's many foreign patrons, there is deep concern that progress is not nearly so fast as had been hoped. One visiting US dignitary with an interest in the success of the "revolution" said: "These people just don't know how to do politics. They are not schooled in the techniques and the necessary give and take".

He was not alone in his frustration. There is a growing consensus in Ukraine that Mr Yushchenko and Ms Tymoshenko have frittered away much of their political capital. If they cannot regain momentum in the autumn, there is a real risk Ukraine will sink back into inertia.

After a series of political and diplomatic gaffes last December, President Putin has left Ukraine to its own devices. Suggestions that Russia was involved in the murder of Ukraine's most celebrated investigative journalist, Georgy Gongadze, or in the dioxin poisoning of Mr Yushchenko before the election have been rebutted. Probably it was always unreasonable to expect tangible results from the Orange revolution so soon. But Mr Yushchenko's options for rallying his disappointed cohorts are decreasing. His call earlier this week for a comprehensive reorganisation of law enforcement, to include the disbanding of the notoriously corrupt traffic police, looked more like a crowd-pleaser than a serious blueprint for change.

Challenged to say what the government had achieved, the head of the Crimean administration, Ivan Matvienko, snapped at a local reporter: "You don't plant a potato one day, then dig it up the next because you are feeling peckish."