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TITLE:  UKRAINE HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR;  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                            UKRAINE


Ukraine in 1994 continued to be governed by the 1978
Constitution of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic,
modified by the introduction of a presidency and a multiparty
system.  In presidential elections held in June and July,
Leonid Kuchma defeated incumbent Leonid Kravchuk and four other
candidates.  The first post-Soviet elections for the 450-member
Rada (parliament), held in the spring, resulted in a much
fragmented legislature.

Since independence, a Rada commission has worked unsuccessfully
to draft a new constitution.  In 1994 the President and the
Rada proposed forming a new constitutional commission, which
was finally established in October.  In general, however, 1994,
like 1992 and 1993, was a year of governmental deadlock.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Ministry of Internal
Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense all have equal status and
report to the President through the Cabinet.  The chairmen of
these institutions sit on the Council of Ministers and
simultaneously chair the Council's executive committees
responsible for each of their ministries.  The Rada must
confirm the appointment of each chairman.  The armed forces
have remained largely outside of politics.  President Kuchma
nominated, and the Rada confirmed on October 3, Ukraine's first
civilian Defense Minister.  During parliamentary debates, the
SBU serves in a technical advisory capacity.  Although it has
affected the political process through criminal investigations
against certain politicians and influential businessmen, human
rights organizations have not reported any violations of human
rights by the SBU.

The economy continues to be dependent on state-owned industry
and state and collectivized agriculture.  Little privatization
has occurred.  The Government has struggled to find a unique
"Ukrainian way" of transition from a command to a free market
economy.  Consequently, economic reform has not been
extensively enacted, and the economy has suffered double-digit
declines in gross domestic product, periodic hyperinflation,
and high levels of hidden unemployment.  Much economic activity
is submerged into the illegal sector (estimated at between 50
and 80 percent), causing a concomitant dramatic rise in crime.

The most significant human rights achievement was the ability
of the people of Ukraine, through internationally monitored
elections, to replace elected and appointed officials at all
levels of the executive and legislative branches in both the
central and local governments.  President Kuchma and the
Chairman of the Rada acted to strengthen the separation of
church and state through public statements and through
adjustment of certain administrative procedures.  The President
also disciplined the National Council for Broadcasting, which
engaged in partisan and illegal actions during the presidential
election campaign, and replaced the director of state
television, which in the past had been accused of restricting
public discussion of important issues.  Continuing human rights
problems include restrictions on freedom of the press and
association, unreformed legal and prison systems, and ethnic
tensions in Crimea.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1                           Respect for the Integrity
                                    of the Person, Including
                                    Freedom from:

    a.   Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

There were no known political killings by agents of the
Government, but the line between politically motivated killing
and criminal activities has become difficult to distinguish.
The Government's inability to stem the economic decline and
check the growth of violent, organized criminal activity had
major repercussions.  Politicians increasingly became the
victims--whether through kidnapings or killings--of organized
criminal groups, aided sometimes, either actively or passively,
by corrupt officials.  Politicians were particularly targeted
because of their influence over state-owned enterprises, which
still constituted 95 percent of official economic output.

In a particularly violent example of lawlessness, the entire
leadership of the Crimean Christian Liberal Party was singled
out for assassination because of the Party's platform on
economic reform.  Six people, half of the leadership, were
murdered, with the remainder fleeing Ukraine.  Its remaining
members disbanded the Party.  Crimean authorities were
seemingly able neither to stop the killings nor apprehend the
perpetrators.  President Kuchma's first act as President was to
sign a decree establishing special units and procedures to
combat organized crime.  He also acted to raise the pay of law
enforcement officials to reduce the temptation of corruption.

    b.   Disappearance

Mikhaylo Boychyshyn, a prominent leader of the Popular Movement
of Ukraine (Rukh) disappeared in January without explanation.
No other disappearances are known to have occurred.

    c.   Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

The Constitution prohibits torture.  However, police and prison
beatings occur with regularity, and there is no effective
mechanism for registering complaints about mistreatment or for
obtaining redress.  The Government made no known efforts during
the year to end the practice or to punish officials who
committed such abuses.

Visitors to prisons describe conditions as severely substandard.
Prisons are overcrowded, with the number of prisoners sometimes
four times the prison capacity.  The most crowded tend to be
those for prisoners who have been charged with a crime and are
awaiting trial or are in investigative detention.

The psychiatric community has adopted more humane methods of
treatment.  Human rights monitors say that, although the
quality of medical care in Ukraine is generally deteriorating,
psychiatry is making significant progress.  There is some
official support for the adoption of less coercive and
degrading modes of treatment.  Despite the resource constraints
imposed by the economic crisis, efforts to improve medical
training, hospital conditions, patients' rights, and legal
norms are under way.

    d.   Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

There were no reported cases of arbitrary arrest or detention
of persons.  Ukraine has only slightly amended its Soviet-era
law on detentions, and the recent decree signed by President
Kuchma on combating organized crime and corruption contains a
number of controversial provisions.

Ukrainian law provides that police authorities may detain a
person suspected of a crime for 3 days without a warrant.  A
prosecutor must issue an arrest order if the period of
detention exceeds 3 days.  The maximum period of detention
after charges have been filed is 1 1/2 years.  The law permits
citizens to appeal the legality of an arrest either to the
court or to the prosecutor.  As citizens gain a better
understanding of their rights under a 1992 law, they are
increasingly filing appeals with the courts.  The authorities
have dismissed some prosecutors for not adhering to legal
guidelines.

A presidential decree designed to combat corruption and
organized crime permits the "preventive" detention of persons
for up to 30 days without the filing of charges.  The President
told law enforcement agencies on several occasions that they
should take no actions inconsistent with other laws and the
Constitution, regardless of the provisions of the decree.  At
year's end, it remained to be seen whether the new decree would
result in arbitrary detention or other abuses.

By law, a judge must initiate a trial within 3 weeks from the
time charges are filed.  But this limit is not always met by
the overloaded court system, where months may pass before a
defendant is finally brought to court.  By law, detainees are
permitted access to a defense attorney, who is provided without
charge to the indigent, from the moment of detention or the
filing of charges, whichever comes first.  There is no
attorney-client privilege.  The prisoner may talk to a lawyer
only in the presence of the person who made the arrest.  To
protect the defendant, each investigative file must contain a
document signed by the defendant and his counsel attesting that
the defendant's rights were explained to him in the presence of
an attorney.  An appeals court may dismiss a conviction or
order a new trial if this document is missing.  As defendants
became aware of their rights, they increasingly insisted on
observance of these rights.  However, many still were not
aware, and hence did not take advantage, of these procedures.
Defense attorneys' fees also were prohibitively expensive for
many defendants.

Exile as a punishment no longer exists in Ukrainian law.

    e.   Denial of Fair Public Trial

The criminal justice system follows the former Soviet model.
Several modifications have been made, including a December 1991
law modifying the system of prosecution and a June 1992 law,
not yet implemented, authorizing the creation of a
constitutional court.  Without further major structural
reforms, however, the independence of the judiciary from
outside pressure cannot be realized.

The nonimplementation of the constitutional court law is
symptomatic of the gridlock which stymies judicial reform in
general.  While the law was enacted, all but one of the
candidates selected by the Government for the constitutional
court refused appointments, and the court was not able to begin
work.  As the number of contradictions between new laws and the
old Constitution increased, the need for a functioning
constitutional court became ever more urgent.  The Supreme
Court has refrained from interpreting the laws and the
Constitution, leaving individuals, businesses, and even the
Government without a court of appeal in cases in which new laws
conflict with the Constitution.

The courts of general jurisdiction are undifferentiated as to
function (although separate arbitration, or commercial, courts
exist).  In the same day, judges may hear criminal, civil, and
juvenile cases.  The courts are organized on three levels:
rayon courts (district, also known as people's courts); oblast
(regional) courts; and the Supreme Court.  All may act as the
court of first instance depending on the nature and seriousness
of the crime.  A case heard in the first instance by the
Supreme Court, therefore, may not be appealed or reviewed.
There are no clear rules to determine which court first hears a
case.  As a rule, military tribunals handle cases involving
military personnel only.

Prosecutors, like the courts, are organized into offices at the
rayon, oblast, and republic levels.  They are ultimately
responsible to the Prosecutor General, appointed by the Rada.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys by law have equal status
before the courts.  In practice, prosecutors still are very
influential because court proceedings are not conducted in an
adversarial manner.  The prosecutor directs all investigations
of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the SBU, or he may use
the investigative resources of his office.

While the defendant is presumed innocent and is tried before a
panel consisting of one judge and two lay assessors, conviction
rates have not changed from the Soviet era.  Nearly 99 percent
of completed cases result in convictions.  Judges frequently
send cases unlikely to end in convictions back to the
prosecutor for "additional investigation."  Such cases may then
be dropped or closed, occasionally without informing the court
or the defendant.  Consequently, conviction rates are a
somewhat misleading statistic.  There are no known political
prisoners.

Oblast and Supreme Court judges may not be members of political
parties and must have at least 5 years of legal experience.
The Rada selects judges on the basis of recommendations from
the Ministry of Justice, based in part on examination results.
The Prosecutor General and his deputy are nominated by the
President and confirmed by the Rada.  Regional and district
prosecutors are appointed by the Prosecutor General.  Many
current judges and prosecutors were appointed in Soviet times
when political influence pervaded the criminal justice system.
It is unclear how free the judiciary is from influence and
intimidation by the executive branch of government.
Particularly at the regional level, judges, prosecutors, and
other court officials appear to remain closely attuned to local
government interests.  Organized crime elements have also
influenced court decisions.

    f.   Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

Search warrants issued by prosecutors, not judges, are required
and utilized in most cases.  The SBU may, however, conduct
intrusive surveillance and searches without a warrant on
national security grounds.  Human rights observers report
receiving no complaints of invasion of privacy by the SBU.
According to the SBU charter, persons subject to surveillance
must be informed after a month's time.  The Prosecutor General's
office has oversight responsibility over the SBU, but the
extent to which it utilizes that authority to monitor SBU
activities and to curb excesses by security officials is
unknown.

The remnants of Soviet control mechanisms survive in many
guises.  The militia stops vehicles arbitrarily in cities, at
the borders of cities and towns, and throughout the
countryside.  It needs no probable cause to stop vehicles for
an extensive document check and inspection of all parts of the
vehicle and its contents.  This has become a great source of
and inducement to corruption in the militia:  citizens who
often have committed no violation, or only a minor one, prefer
to pay a bribe to avoid time-consuming inspections.  Westerners
and Western vehicles are popular targets of this treatment.
Persons who have committed serious violations also escape
justice by paying bribes to officials, further undermining the
concept of the rule of law.

Section 2                           Respect for Civil
                                    Liberties, Including:

    a.   Freedom of Speech and Press

A 1991 law protects freedom of speech and the print media.
Criticism of the Government is tolerated.  Because most of the
media are state owned and supported, there is a general
tendency to self-censorship.  Former President Kravchuk
declared that newsprint was a strategic commodity and that
there would be no privatization of the sources of paper.
Government control of subsidies, most printing presses,
newsprint, and a galaxy of "official" media continued to
inhibit the growth of a fully free, competitive, and open
press.  More recently, President Kuchma signed a law exempting
government-owned media from paying high value-added taxes,
thereby making the private press comparatively more expensive.

A 1994 law (predating President Kuchma's election) regulates
the electronic media.  Holos Ukrainy, the official newspaper of
the Ukrainian Parliament, accused the state television of
promoting the reelection of President Kravchuk (see Section 3)
and of restricting discussion of controversial domestic topics,
such as disputes among the rival Orthodox churches claiming
jurisdiction over the country (see Section 2.c.).  Several
private television channels rebroadcast uncensored foreign news
programs and create their own programming.  Foreign broadcasts
(mostly Russian) are received without interference.

After his election, President Kuchma disbanded the Council on
Broadcast Media, a regulatory agency, on the grounds that his
predecessor had improperly appointed the Council.  In addition,
after a private television station, Hravis, broadcast campaign
information about Kuchma and the other candidates in the
presidential race, the Council had shut it down for being
improperly licensed.  Upon his election, Kuchma reinstated
Hravis' license and appointed its executive director to the
post of deputy director of the State Broadcasting Company.  The
President's adviser on press freedoms stated that Kuchma will
reestablish the Council as a nonpartisan body solely involved
in the technical aspects of broadcast regulation.

During former President Kravchuk's tenure, the Government
created a committee with broadly defined powers over all media
(i.e., print, broadcasting, and publishing) to protect "state
secrets."  These were broadly defined to include economic and
numerous other categories of information with the apparent
purpose of suppressing embarrassing information about the
Government's performance.  The law establishing the committee
provided not only for censorship of the media but also
penalties for anyone who published such information.  President
Kuchma dissolved the committee before it was able to exercise
its powers.

The most serious threat to a free and open discussion of issues
came from criminal elements and organized crime.  Some
journalists and editors reported they feared reprisals from
criminal elements if they exposed how organized crime came to
control much of the economy, both private and state owned.
However, as the year passed, the print media became more daring
and courageous in discussing this subject.

    b.   Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Law on Public Assembly of 1989 stipulates that
organizations must apply for permission to the respective local
administration 10 days before a planned demonstration.
Participants in demonstrations are prohibited by law from
instigating violence or ethnic conflict and from calling for
the violent overthrow of the constitutional order.
Demonstrations may not interfere with traffic, take place near
the Rada when it is in session, or otherwise hinder public
order.  In Kiev, officials routinely granted permits.
Unlicensed demonstrations were common and occurred without
police interference, even at the Rada when it was in session.

The 1992 law on public organizations prohibits the State from
financing political parties and other public organizations.
According to the law, political parties may not receive funds
from abroad or maintain accounts in foreign banks.  The law
prohibits organizations advocating the violent overthrow of the
Government and constitutional order or undermining Ukraine's
state security by collaborating with other states.  It bars
political parties from having administrative or organizational
structures abroad.  The law prohibits police authorities,
members of the armed forces, and executive branch officials
from joining political parties, but many such persons
nonetheless publicly associate themselves with specific parties.

Political parties may be dissolved only by a court decision.
The Supreme Court may dissolve a party for advocating the
overthrow of the State, for "anti-Ukrainian" activities, or for
violating or advocating the violation of the constitutional
rights of citizens.  Because no party has been dissolved since
independence, the legal criteria have not yet been established.
Immediately after the coup attempts of 1991, the Government
banned the Communist Party of Ukraine, which was an affiliate
of the former Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).  Many
former members of the Communist Party thereafter participated
in establishing the Socialist Party of Ukraine.  In December
1993, the Government registered the Communist Party of Ukraine
as a new party, and not as a successor party to the CPSU.
Hence, former CPSU assets were not given to the new Socialist
Party, although it continued to press the Rada for recognition
as the legal successor of the CPSU.

Freedom of association is circumscribed by an onerous
registration requirement that lends itself to abuse and
bureaucratic manipulation.  Groups must be registered with the
Government to pursue almost any purpose, whether commercial or
philanthropic.  The Ministries of Justice, Economy, Foreign
Economic Relations, and the Councils on Religion and
Broadcasting, among others, all have registration functions
which they have used at one time or another to prevent citizens
from exercising their right of free association for purposes of
which the Government does not approve.

Not being registered has several important disadvantages, i.e.,
unregistered groups are prohibited from having bank accounts,
acquiring property, or entering into contracts.  On the other
hand, the registration law gives the Government an unlimited
right to inspect the activities of all registered groups.
According to this law, a registered group must (1) keep the
Government apprised of all its activities, including
notification of any meetings; (2) make its meetings open to all
persons at all times, regardless of whether or not they are
members; and (3) upon request, present its registration
documents to any government official, including the prosecutor's
office, and be ready to prove that it is in compliance with the
purposes of the group as set out in its registration documents.
A change in a group's purposes necessitates reregistration.  A
registered group may not duplicate any function or service that
the Government already provides.  For instance, human rights
lawyers who wish to represent prisoners are prohibited from
establishing an association to do so, according to the Ministry
of Justice, because the Government already provides lawyers for
the accused.

Provisions of the law on registration, through bureaucratic and
political maneuvering, were used to vitiate sections of the
1993 election law which governed the recent Rada elections.
The election law expressly called for the establishment of an
association of nonpartisan voters to supply nonpartisan
information to the voters on the democratic process, the
candidates, and the parties.  Despite such specific provisions,
the Central Election Commission, which is responsible for
administering the election law, refused to register the
committee and referred the group to the Ministry of Justice for
registry as a civic organization.  It was reported that, when
consulted by the Ministry of Justice, the Central Election
Commission recommended that the Ministry not register the
group.  The Ministry of Justice, based in part on that
recommendation, refused to register the committee, citing as
one reason that it would be against the law for any group of
private citizens to arrange for informational meetings between
candidates and the voters.  Without registration, the committee
was effectively excluded from carrying out the functions
explicitly provided for by Ukrainian law.

In addition, the registration law has been used to prevent the
issuance of visas to foreign missionaries (see Section 2.c.).
Some human rights groups, despite having requested and been
denied registration, nevertheless operate, but always with the
risk of being prosecuted.  The Odesa prosecutor warned a human
rights group that was refused registration in Odesa that all
members of the group would be arrested if they continued to
operate.

    c.   Freedom of Religion

There is no official state religion.  The 1991 law on freedom
of conscience and religion provides for the separation of church
and state and permits religious organizations to establish
places of worship and train clergy.  Religious organizations
are required to register with local authorities and with the
Government's Council for Religious Affairs, a process that
generally lasts about 1 month.  The State has not interfered
with the registration of minority religions requested by
Ukrainian citizens.  The State has on occasion intervened in
disputes over church property among the three rival Orthodox
churches which claim jurisdiction over Orthodox Christians in
Ukraine.  Church disputes practically dropped to nil in 1994,
and the Government took an even-handed approach in these cases.

Obstacles to complete religious freedom still exist at the
local level where the bureaucracy in some places has delayed
registration of religious organizations.  However, a religious
organization may not be denied registration.  Any group
representing itself as a church may apply for registration.

An amendment of the 1991 law, passed by the Rada on December
23, 1993, has been used to restrict the activities of nonnative
religious organizations.  It requires that "clergymen,
religious preachers, teachers, other representatives of foreign
organizations who are foreign citizens and come to visit
temporarily in Ukraine may preach religious doctrines,
administer religious ordinances, or practice other canonical
activities only in those religious organizations which invited
them to Ukraine and with official approval of the governmental
body that registered the statutes and the articles of the
pertinent religious organization."

Citing a desire to preserve Ukrainian culture, some government
officials have argued that restrictions on the activities of
nonnative religious organizations are appropriate.  The Kiev
city administration has not responded thus far to applications
by non-Ukrainian Mormon missionaries and others for visas.
Some local authorities refused to respond officially to the
requests but stated in private that they will not grant visas
because of the opposition of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
When the Mormon church continued to press its case for visas,
some members of the Council on Religious Affairs threatened to
deregister the Mormon church if it did not cease its efforts.
As one of his first presidential acts, President Kuchma
disbanded this Council and directed that a new committee be
formed under the supervision of the Minister for Nationalities,
Migration, and Religious Denominations.  At year's end, it was
not yet clear whether this would affect government restrictions
on foreign religious workers.

Jews, the second-largest minority in the country, have expanded
opportunities to pursue their religious and cultural activities,
but anti-Semitic incidents continue to occur.  The national
Government has protected the rights of the Jewish community and
speaks out against anti-Semitism.  However, nongovernmental
manifestations of anti-Semitism continue, exemplified by the
growth of an ultranationalist extremist group in western
Ukraine having anti-Semitism as a tenet.  The group applied
for, but was refused, registration as a political party at the
national level.  The city of L'viv did permit the group to
register, and it may now operate there openly.  Anti-Semitic
articles continue to appear in some local newspapers,
especially in western Ukraine and Kharkiv, and there have been
reports of new anti-Semitic periodicals.  Jewish cemeteries
have been desecrated.  In L'viv, the Jewish community asked to
erect a monument at what is said to be the only former German
concentration camp in Europe without a memorial.  L'viv
officials refused permission.

    d.   Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

Freedom of movement within the country is not restricted by
law, but the requirements to register at the workplace and
place of residence determine eligibility for social benefits.
People who move to other regions for work in the private
economy, for instance, may not be eligible for registration and
therefore may not be able to use medical facilities unless they
pay very high fees in hard currency.

Ukraine assures the right of return for all those it considers
its citizens.  Persons born in Ukraine and living in Ukraine at
the time of independence are considered citizens.  The right of
return is available to people born in Ukraine who left the
country prior to independence and did not assume another
citizenship.  Dual citizenship is not recognized.

Before the precipitous decline in its finances in 1994, the
Government had an extensive assistance program for the
resettlement of returnees.  It provided resources for the
return not only of Ukrainians living in Russia and elsewhere
but also the Tatars to Crimea and the Volga Germans to southern
Ukraine.  By 1994, 250,000 Tatars had returned to Crimea.  In
1994 the Government was no longer able to provide assistance,
but it did not put any impediments in the way of the Tatars'
continuing return.