Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the invitation to participate in this important meeting of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development as it examines the situation in Ukraine.
My name is Taras Zalusky. I'm the executive director of the UCC. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress is the voice of Canada's Ukrainian community. The congress brings together under one umbrella all the national, provincial, and local Ukrainian Canadian organizations.
Among others, one of the purposes and objects of the UCC is to support the democratic, civil, social, economic, and state development of Ukraine. By extension, the Ukrainian Canadian community wishes to see this great country and its talented people succeed in overcoming the legacy of its difficult past and continue to build a democratic, stable, prosperous, and harmonious society within Ukraine, based on respect for national and religious minorities and strong mutually respectful relations with its neighbours and beyond. The Ukrainian community in Canada wishes to foster positive relations between Canada and Ukraine.
Despite the numerous statements by the Ukrainian government, which denies the situation, there is abundant information and evidence that Ukraine is returning to an authoritarian governance model.
Consequently, there are a number of negative implications for stability in the region. There are also risks of physical confrontation between civil society and Ukrainian authorities as the government systematically proceeds to reverse the democratic gains resulting from the Orange Revolution.
Today, many in Ukraine feel that their future is at risk. The rule of law and democratic freedoms, such as freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech, are being stifled. Opposition leaders are being arrested, jailed, and charged, and often in that order. Politically motivated selective justice is being meted out indiscriminately against opponents of the Yanukovych government.
President Yanukovych has overseen a number of actions that constitute a rejection of the fundamental principles of democratic government. Previous restrictions on the powers of the president have been repealed. This has accelerated the concentration of power in the hands of the president. The distinction and separation of powers among the president, prime minister, the government, and Parliament have been significantly reduced, if not nullified. Checks and balances between the executive and the judiciary have also been eroded.
There has been a crackdown on opposition politicians, manifested in the ongoing prosecution and recent conviction of, among others, Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister; the arrest and imprisonment of Yuriy Lutsenko, former interior minister; and the flight into asylum in the Czech Republic of Bohdan Danylyshyn, the former economy minister. In the Tymoshenko case, the decision to sentence her to seven years' incarceration precludes her from holding public office for years.
Over the past weeks, many political leaders have condemned her trial, highlighting its political nature and the attempt to eliminate Mrs. Tymoshenko as an opposition leader. On October 11, 2011, European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton issued the following statement:
The verdict comes after a trial which did not respect the international standards as regards fair, transparent and independent legal process, which I repeatedly called for in my previous statements. This unfortunately confirms that justice is being applied selectively in politically motivated prosecutions of the leaders of the opposition and members of the former government.
Similar statements were also made--strong statements--by Canada's foreign minister, the Honourable John Baird, and Canada's Prime Minister, both publicly and in correspondence to President Yanukovych.
There has also been an increasing use of coercion against journalists and threats to media freedom in Ukraine.
One of the major achievements of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004 was the establishment of truly independent media. The Ukrainians now have greater trust in the media than they have in their country's politicians, according to the polls conducted in 2010.
Independent media outlets have become a mainstay of the Ukraine civil society landscape and a trusted check on the government. However, since February 2010, a growing number of disturbing incidents have occurred that convey the impression that media freedoms are increasingly being jeopardized.
In July 2010, international media rights watchdog Reporters without Borders found documented cases of physical attacks on journalists, direct obstruction of their work, and acts of censorship of various kinds. According to the U.S. state department, the local elections of October 31, 2010 did not meet standards for openness and fairness set by the presidential elections earlier that year.
There are also serious fears about the next legislative elections in 2012. How can they be declared free and fair if the leaders of the two opposition parties, including the leader of the official opposition, are unable to take part in them?
As well, the government of President Yanukovych has targeted independent universities, research institutions, and others for harassment and intimidation, especially those working on restoring Ukraine's historical memory.
Last year, Prime Minister Harper visited the Ukrainian Catholic University and the National Lonsky Memorial Prison Museum, where both the rector of the university, Father Bores Gudziak, and the director of the museum, Ruslan Zabily, were subjected to government harassment and intimidation. In June of this year, Zabily and 16 staff members of the museum were interrogated by the secret police, despite messaging to the contrary from Prime Minister Azarov.
These are some of the latest actions demonstrating the efforts of the Government of Ukraine to step up actions against researchers and historians. These and other efforts to revert to Soviet-style tactics of intimidation need to be monitored, publicized, and addressed systematically.
What can Canada do? With respect to CIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency, its focus at present is on agriculture and food security and economic development for Ukraine.