Ukraine

Ukraine is a republic with a mixed presidential and parliamentary system, governed by a directly elected president and the Verkhovna Rada (parliament). Parliamentary elections were held on March 26. According to international observers, fundamental civil and political rights were respected during the campaign, enabling voters to freely express their opinions. International observers noted that the conduct of the election was in line with international standards for democratic elections, making this the most free and fair in the country's history. Despite improvements, a number of serious human rights problems remained, including torture in pretrial detention facilities, violent hazing of conscripts, societal violence against Jews, anti-Semitic publications, incidents of the return of refugees to a country where they feared persecution, serious corruption in all branches of government, and trends of violence and discrimination against women, children, and minorities. The government at all levels generally sought to protect freedom of religion; however, some minority and nontraditional religions experienced difficulties in registration and in buying and leasing property. Domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government harassment, and there were few restrictions on media freedom or freedoms of assembly and association. Authorities increased investigations of suspected human traffickers but were still grappling with how to strengthen the country's prosecution capabilities.

The U.S. human rights and democracy strategy focused on supporting democratic reform. This included strengthening the rule of law, independent media, electoral processes, and respect for civil liberties; fighting corruption; promoting good governance; and improving the monitoring and advocacy capabilities of human rights organizations. Combating anti-Semitism and trafficking in persons were also important goals. The ambassador and senior U.S. officials met frequently with senior government officials, including the president and prime minister, to stress the importance of continuing democratic reform and highlight that membership in Euro-Atlantic institutions such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization hinges on respect for democracy and human rights. This message was regularly reinforced in Washington and in Kyiv by the secretary of state, the under secretary of state for global affairs, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, and others.

To support free and fair parliamentary and local elections, U.S. assistance programs focused on public monitoring of the electoral process, voter education, nonpartisan training for political parties and local government officials, domestic and international election monitoring, and election administration issues. The U.S.-funded Election Administration Support Project improved the legal and regulatory election framework and successfully supported the Central Election Commission in updating and improving voter lists. The project also provided training for 175,000 election officials and produced instructional guides and videos distributed to more than 33,000 election commissioners prior to parliamentary and local elections held in March. U.S. grants to local NGOs also significantly increased civic oversight of the vote and helped increase voter awareness of election issues. With U.S. support, a Dnipropetrovsk-based NGO, in cooperation with local governments, conducted voter education and get-out-the-vote campaigns in 14 cities and produced an information brochure for first-time voters. The United States also supported training for print and broadcast journalists on election coverage, public service announcements, and watchdog groups.

To promote effective, transparent, and participatory local and municipal government, U.S. programs enhanced local government capacity to improve service delivery, further develop autonomous and transparent financial planning and management strategies, and provide forums for an informed citizenry to actively participate in local decision-making. Through such U.S.-funded programs, dozens of cities improved delivery of municipal services, instituted competitive bidding for procurement of equipment and services, and adopted financial analysis models as a planning tool. There were 252 cities actively using task forces or advisory boards with citizen participation to work on city development plans.

U.S. media assistance programs continued to improve the legal and regulatory framework for media, support legal aid for media outlets, help independent outlets improve their financial sustainability, provide training in investigative journalism, and promote socially responsible media. In the lead-up to the March elections, a U.S.-funded media project assisted in the development of and lobbying for changes to the election law. These changes included dropping limitations on the coverage of election news and improvement of legal protections for media.

The civil society sector continued to grow and show gains in sustainability. U.S.-funded activities helped NGOs to advocate for and secure better laws, such as further simplification of NGO registration procedures. Equally important, NGOs that received U.S. assistance successfully prevented implementation of laws that could have restricted NGO and citizen rights. For example, NGOs pushed successfully to cancel a decree to monitor the Internet. With U.S. grant support, an Uzhgorod-based NGO amended the forestry code to give citizens public control over the rights to manage and own forestry land, and a Donetsk-region NGO successfully introduced changes to legislation obligating the Ministry of Education to offer street children equal access to an elementary education. A Luhansk-based NGO addressed problems with communal services, published a brochure with strategies for handling various issues, and established a hot line serving 500 people per year. The United States also successfully assisted in boosting the development of local philanthropy by way of promoting public-private partnerships.

The United States facilitated efforts to strengthen the rule of law, increase judicial independence, and combat corruption. These efforts sought to capitalize on the government’s commitment to reform and bring the country both into compliance with its obligations as a member of the Council of Europe and move it closer to the government's long-term objective of joining the European Union. Working with partner organizations, the United States created legal advocacy centers specializing in human rights; trained judges on new legislation and application of international conventions to ensure the quality of legal services, established regional judicial associations; developed student legal clinics, designed election advocacy and education programs, and implemented a wide range of public legal literacy initiatives. The program assisted more than 30 law schools in developing clinical legal education programs by sponsoring numerous conferences and roundtables and offering training and exchange programs for students and clinic directors. The program awarded small operational grants to 17 legal clinics and produced three clinical legal education textbooks. Other anticorruption programs supported public hearings on corruption, a major public information campaign against corruption, the government’s initiative to establish a public complaint program, training for journalists in investigative reporting, grants to NGOs engaged in anticorruption advocacy and watchdog efforts, and a pilot testing program for university entrance exams.

U.S. technical and advisory assistance supported the drafting of a concept paper for comprehensive reform of the criminal justice and law enforcement system along European lines. To promote development of transparency and balance in the system, the U.S. Government continued to support the drafting of a Council of Europe-compliant Criminal Procedure Code. In the same vein, the United States launched a pilot program to demonstrate the benefits of respecting the basic human rights of detainees through a fair and transparent pretrial detention system. To help offset the influence of Soviet-era practices on the prosecutor's office, U.S. officials developed programs to strengthen the advocacy skills of defense attorneys with the long-term goal of helping the defense attorney community establish its own continuing professional education program.

A new U.S.-funded program to combat corruption and strengthen rule of law advanced judicial reform through rapid-response technical assistance, support for the drafting and implementation of improved laws and regulations, training for new judges and court staff, and support in improving the budget process in the legal system. For example, the program cooperated with the National Commission for Strengthening Democracy and the Rule of Law to develop a comprehensive "judicial reform concept" and draft laws on the judiciary and the status of judges. A number of these proposals were successfully incorporated into the Concept Paper on the Judicial Reform, Concept Paper on Anticorruption, and in draft anticorruption bills. The president approved both concept papers and submitted a package of bills on judiciary reform and fighting against corruption to the parliament.

Through public diplomacy and small grant support to local NGOs, the United States worked to monitor and curb human rights abuses such as torture and to encourage respect for the rights of women, children, minorities, and people with disabilities. The United States supported the second annual National Human Rights Forum, organized by a national human rights NGO, which brought together over 200 civic activists and representatives of human rights organizations, the media, international organizations, and government agencies to discuss methods for curbing abuses. A 300-page report prepared by a national network of human rights organizations was presented at the forum. The Democracy Commission Small Grants Program provided 22 grants to human rights NGOs to conduct a broad range of nationwide monitoring and reporting on the rights of refugees and prisoners, the right to a fair trial, and freedom from arbitrary arrest. A Lviv-based NGO used a U.S. grant to help people with disabilities enjoy equal access to national parks and major recreational areas; the NGO also proposed a list of amendments to current national laws on access to public facilities by people with disabilities. With U.S. support, a Kyiv-based NGO strengthened cooperation between NGOs, businesses, and governmental organizations to ensure the delivery of social services and charitable donations to people with disabilities and their families. A national NGO used U.S. funding to bring victims of domestic violence together with government, law enforcement, and social services personnel to discuss ways to improve the implementation of domestic violence legislation.

The ambassador and other officials demonstrated the U.S. Government’s concern for religious freedom by maintaining a dialogue with government and religious leaders and staying in close contact with clerics and lay leaders in religious communities. Throughout the year, the United States tracked developments in religious freedom and cultural heritage preservation court cases involving anti-Semitism, including the Sambir and Volodymyr-Volynsky Jewish cemetery cases, and followed closely the rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Dnipropetrovsk and cases involving discrimination against Tatars in Crimea. The United States raised concerns about religious freedom and anti-Semitism with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the office of the prosecutor general, the office of prime minister, and the presidential secretariat. The special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, the ambassador, and other senior U.S. officials also raised concerns directly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the anti-Semitic teachings and publications of the Inter-Regional Academy of Personnel Management (known by its Ukrainian acronym, MAUP.) On February 27, the ambassador hosted an interfaith dialogue lunch that brought together leading clergymen, the head of the department for religious affairs, two prominent members of parliament, and a leading journalist to discuss progress and challenges in promoting religious tolerance.

The United States supported the labor movement in its efforts to obtain independence from government control and to exercise its legal rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. The United States funded a trade union development program that maintained continuing contact with union representatives, regularly reported on workers’ rights issues, and funded technical assistance programs to promote basic rights of workers. Combating trafficking in persons and assisting trafficking victims were also priorities. The U.S. Government conducted training programs on combating labor exploitation for the Ministry of Interior’s new antitrafficking department. The United States also facilitated the development of interior ministry-to-interior ministry exchanges with neighboring countries that were primary destination points for local trafficking victims.