Maidan

Vasily Aleksanian has been released from custody after people raised the 1.7 million USD bail demanded for a gravely ill man. Former Yukos lawyer Svetlana Bakhmina remains in prison with her new-born baby despite calls for mercy. Yury Budanov, however, who murdered an 18-year-old girl is about to be released early, while Captain Ulman and his men who murdered 6 civilians in cold blood remain at liberty, having been clearly helped to escape justice

Politicians in other countries managed to understand that there could be no winners, by definition, if they did not stand united. Ukraine’s leaders bear full responsibility for their inability and unwillingness to comprehend this simple truth whatever fine words they use to mask their contempt for their own citizens

Russian government led by Putin and Medvedev have recently started the military operation against Georgia apparently aimed at destruction of Georgia as independent state and focused at demonstration of its winning brutal military force to global community. This military operation had become possible because Russian government had felt its total impunity thanks to passive and apathetic reaction of European and world politicians that are unable to consolidate efforts to stop the aggressor.

We are asking people in Ukraine, Russia and all countries of the world to help us raise awareness about Holodomor 1932-1933 in Ukraine. There is no question of presenting grievances against today’s Russia, nor of settling scores. It is a question of justice, of willingness to try to understand the past and to do all in our power to ensure that such a crime never happens again. Please help us by adding your voice to ours.

Ukrainians turn to Strasbourg because the courts in Ukraine all too often let them down. They seek justice at the European Court because Ukrainian politicians erode their confidence in their own justice system. It is surely therefore not surprising that so many Ukrainians have emphatically registered their opposition to Serhiy Holovaty, or any other Ukrainian politician, becoming Judge of this most important court.

The actions of the police which were directly controlled by the Minister during the conflict in the Prosecutor General’s office almost led to a confrontation between armed members of different enforcement agencies. The law enforcement agencies must examine these actions, however regardless of the results of their enquiry we would stress the inadmissibility of such provocative behaviour from the heads of enforcement bodies.

On 8 February 2005, civic society marked Nina Karpachova’s election to the post by launching a monitoring campaign aimed at making the work of the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Secretariat more transparent and effective. The need for such scrutiny, given woefully inadequate work and heavily politicized behaviour, was – and remains – clear to all

The first phase of a project on ensuring the public’s right of access to information about the activities of the authorities carried out by the “Maidan” Alliance and the Civic Information and Methodology Centre “Vsesvit” [“Universe”] identified disturbing, if sometimes also absurd, discrepancies in how various State bodies interpreted the same norms of the Constitution and laws

Those who, like us, support the President fully in calling new elections believe that their democratic voice, and with it, their rights, have been seriously jeopardized since the ruling coalition came to power. The recent attempts through venal means to gain a constitutional majority, enabling the coalition to overcome any Presidential veto and even change the Constitution make a mockery of democracy and seriously distort the electoral results from the 2006 parliamentary elections.

The “virus of rebellion”, the thirst for freedom, the will to freely determine their own fate were so intense specifically among Ukrainians. It was they who inspired people to rise up albeit in the face of inevitable death.
This was what inspired the Shestydesyatnyky, [the Sixties Activists] who went to the camps for the right to call things by their own names, it was this that inspired people during the autumn of 2004.
I would advise Ukrainian politicians to remember this.
Secondly, all modern history demonstrates that a political regime which violates human rights and the rule of law ever more overtly is sooner or later doomed.