Mr. Chair, I am delighted to participate in this take note debate, that the House take note of the general state of democracy in Ukraine, particularly the apparent political bias and arbitrary prosecution and conviction of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko by Ukrainian authorities.
Twenty-five years ago, Ukraine voted to leave the Soviet Union and became an independent country. Canada was the first western country to recognize Ukraine's independence, establishing diplomatic relations on January 27, 1992, and the march to political and economic reform, independence, culture and identity began.
Seven years ago, the 2004 Orange Revolution gave Canada and the world great hope for the prospects of democracy and freedom in Ukraine. Seven years ago, Yulia Tymoshenko, the populist democrat dressed in orange, climbed on to a stage in a snow-covered Kiev. I still recall that scene when she electrified a crowd, galvanized some 150,000 protesters at the time against the then rigged election victory of Viktor Yanukovych in the 2004 presidential election.
Who could forget the compelling scenes, and I can still see it in my mind's eye? I am sure many in Canada at that time were engaged in what was happening in Ukraine. Who could forget the compelling scenes of Yulia Tymoshenko emerging, energizing, captivating the people for days, ushering Viktor Yushchenko to victory, proclaiming in her words at the time, “Glory to Ukraine” and the crowd responding, “Yulia, Yulia”.
The Liberal government at the time stood shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada and we stood shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainian people in Ukraine in our shared struggle to realize their democratic aspirations.
The Canadian government at the time, of which I was a member, sent 1,000 election observers to Ukraine during the election and expressed support for the emergent government and democratic cause.
Democracy was on the march. Civil society was beginning to flower. Freedom of the press was a democratic expression of this march of freedom at the time.
The Orange Revolution gave the world hope for the prospect of real democracy taking root in the Ukraine with the clear and unequivocal support of the Ukrainian people. As well, the years that followed, and indeed we saw this, the emergence of a democracy, while somewhat chaotic, emerged and anchored in the people.
To fast forward, despite his history, Viktor Yanukovych won the 2010 presidential election, ironically, through open processes that resulted from the Orange Revolution itself. Canada and the western countries congratulated him and expressed interest in working with his government in its goal of joining the European Union and the western community of democratic nations.
Then, regrettably, the erosion of democracy, of which this debate is taking note, began and in that erosion of democracy there were a litany of events that I will briefly summarize. Much of this has been addressed this evening, so I will deal with it by abbreviation only.
First, we had a series of unconstitutional amendments, where the previous restrictions to the power of the president were repealed, accelerating the concentration of power in the president. Distinctions and separation of power between president, prime minister and government were effectively nullified and the government and the Parliament came under the direct control of the president, so that whatever prior checks and balances occurred were no longer effective.
Second, we saw a process of politically motivated selected justice and repression of opposition politicians. This has been manifested in the ongoing prosecution and recent conviction of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, as has been described this evening and is part of our take note debate theme. However, it includes as well the arrest and imprisonment of former interior minister, Yuriy Lutsenko and flight into asylum in the Czech Republic of former economic minister, Bohdan Danylyshyn, among others. The appointment of media magnate, Valeriy Khoroshkovsky, as head of the security service of Ukraine, is part of a pattern as it has been described as turning the power of the state over to business oligarchy.
Third, the European parliament adopted, on June 7, 2011, a resolution on Ukraine, wherein it stressed the importance of and its concern with the absence of transparency in investigations, prosecutions, trials and accountability and warned against any use of the criminal law as a tool to achieve political end. It further expressed concern about the increase in the selective prosecution of the political opposition in Ukraine. As I said, this is not limited to, though of course the case study this evening is that of Yulia Tymoshenko.
The European resolution goes on to stress that the ongoing investigations of prominent Ukrainian political leaders should not preclude them, as it has, from actively participating in the political life of the country and calls on Ukrainian authorities to lift the travel ban, both domestically and internationally, on Yulia Tymoshenko and other key political figures.
As well, there were threats to media freedoms, for one of the great achievements of the 2004 Orange Revolution was the establishment of a truly independent media. Again, since February 2010, a growing number of disturbing incidents has occurred that conveyed the impression that media freedoms are increasingly being jeopardized. During its fact finding mission to Ukraine in July 2010, the international media watch dog, Reporters Without Borders, documented cases of physical attacks on journalists, direct obstruction of their work and acts of censorship of various kinds. This trend has continued. At least 10 radio, television and newspaper journalists across the country have reported being physically attacked in 2010 in cities throughout Ukraine, a pattern continuing in 2011. Broadcast licences of independent television channels have been suspended by government regulators, and I can go on.
With regard to local elections, according to the U.S. State Department 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in Ukraine, the October 31 local elections at the time did not meet standards for openness and fairness set by the presidential elections earlier in the year. Two American NGOs threatened to withdraw from a working group to develop a new electoral law, charging that the group had no input because decisions were being made and controlled by the president.
In addition, there is growing and serious concern with the upcoming parliamentary elections. How can they be declared free and fair if the leaders of two opposition parties, including the leader of the official opposition, are not able to participate?
Finally, I would mention the fact that the government of President Viktor Yanukovych has targeted independent universities and research institutions for harassment and intimidation, especially those who are working on restoring Ukraine's historic memory.
This brings me, at this point, to the trial of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. In this trial, we see a case study of that which is concerning us with respect to the erosion of democracy in Ukraine as a whole. In fact, the images contrasted with that which I mentioned of the Orange Revolution in 2004.
I will close with this from an article which states:
This time the former prime minister, wearing grey, sat in court to hear a...judge reading out a sentence of seven years' jail, a three-year ban on public office and a fine of $190 m as purported compensation for damage allegedly caused when she struck a gas deal with Russia in 2009.
This was during the normal course of her work. The article continues to state:
The term was symbolic: a year in jail for every one that has passed since the orange revolution.
A case study in selective prosecution, in all the arbitrariness that attended it, in the denial of a right to fair trial before an impartial and independent judiciary, in the denial of the right to know the nature of the charges against her, denial of the right to counsel, we have gone from the excitement of the 2004 Orange Revolution to the nadir that we are now witnessing in Ukraine.