IV

107TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. RES. 339

Urging the Government of Ukraine to ensure a democratic, transparent,

and fair election process leading up to the March 31, 2002, parliamentary

elections.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 29, 2002

Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself, Mr. HOEFFEL, and Mr. SMITH of New Jersey)

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee

on International Relations

RESOLUTION

Urging the Government of Ukraine to ensure a democratic,

transparent, and fair election process leading up to the

March 31, 2002, parliamentary elections.

Whereas Ukraine stands at a critical point in its development

to a fully democratic society, and the parliamentary elections on March 31, 2002, its third parliamentary elections since becoming independent more than 10 years

ago, will play a significant role in demonstrating whether

Ukraine continues to proceed on the path to democracy

or experiences further setbacks in its democratic development;

Whereas the Government of Ukraine can demonstrate its

commitment to democracy by conducting a genuinely free

and fair parliamentary election process, in which all can-
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didates have access to news outlets in the print, radio,

television, and Internet media, and nationally televised

debates are held, thus enabling the various political parties and election blocs to compete on a level playing field

and the voters to acquire objective information about the

candidates;

Whereas a flawed election process, which contravenes commitments of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on democracy and the conduct of

elections, could potentially slow Ukraine’s efforts to integrate into western institutions;

Whereas in recent years, government corruption and harassment of the media have raised concerns about the commitment of the Government of Ukraine to democracy,

human rights, and the rule of law, while calling into

question the ability of that government to conduct free

and fair elections;

Whereas Ukraine, since its independence in 1991, has been

one of the largest recipients of United States foreign assistance;

Whereas $154,000,000 in technical assistance to Ukraine was

provided under Public Law 107–115 (the Kenneth M.

Ludden Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2002), a

$16,000,000 reduction in funding from the previous fiscal year due to concerns about continuing setbacks to

needed reform and the unresolved deaths of prominent

dissidents and journalists;

Whereas Public Law 107–115 requires a report by the Department of State on the progress by the Government of
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Ukraine in investigating and bringing to justice individuals responsible for the murders of Ukrainian journalists;

Whereas the disappearance and murder of journalist Heorhiy

Gongadze on September 16, 2000, remains unresolved;

Whereas the presidential election of 1999, according to the

final report of the Office of Democratic Institutions and

Human Rights (ODIHR) of OSCE on that election, was

marred by violations of Ukrainian election law and failed

to meet a significant number of commitments on democracy and the conduct of elections included in the OSCE

1990 Copenhagen Document;

Whereas during the 1999 presidential election campaign, a

heavy proincumbent bias was prevalent among the stateowned media outlets, members of the media viewed as not

in support of the president were subject to harassment by

government authorities, and proincumbent campaigning

by state administration and public officials was widespread and systematic;

Whereas the Law on Elections of People’s Deputies of

Ukraine, signed by President Leonid Kuchma on October

30, 2001, was cited in a report of the ODIHR dated November 26, 2001, as making improvements in Ukraine’s

electoral code and providing safeguards to meet

Ukraine’s commitments on democratic elections, although

the Law on Elections remains flawed in a number of important respects, notably by not including a role for domestic nongovernmental organizations to monitor elections;

Whereas according to international media experts, the Law

on Elections defines the conduct of an election campaign
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in an ambiguous manner and could lead to arbitrary

sanctions against media operating in Ukraine;

Whereas the Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) on December 13, 2001, rejected a draft Law on Political Advertising and Agitation, which would have limited free

speech in the campaign period by giving too many discretionary powers to government bodies, and posed a serious

threat to the independent media;

Whereas the Department of State has dedicated $4,700,000

in support of monitoring and assistance programs for the

2002 parliamentary elections;

Whereas the process for the 2002 parliamentary elections has

reportedly been affected by apparent violations during the

period prior to the official start of the election campaign

on January 1, 2002;

Whereas monthly reports for November and December of

2001 released by the Committee on Voters of Ukraine

(CVU), an indigenous, nonpartisan, nongovernment organization that was established in 1994 to monitor the conduct of national election campaigns and balloting in

Ukraine, cited five major types of violations of political

rights and freedoms during the precampaign phase of the

parliamentary elections, including—

(1) use of government position to support particular

political groups;

(2) government pressure on the opposition and on

the independent media;

(3) free goods and services given in order to sway

voters;

(4) coercion to join political parties and pressure to

contribute to election campaigns; and
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(5) distribution of anonymous and compromising information about political opponents:

Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

2 (1) acknowledges the strong relationship be3 tween the United States and Ukraine since

4 Ukraine’s independence more than 10 years ago,

5 while understanding that Ukraine can only become

6 a full partner in western institutions when it fully

7 embraces democratic principles;

8 (2) expresses its support for the efforts of the

9 Ukrainian people to promote democracy, the rule of

10 law, and respect for human rights in Ukraine;

11 (3) urges the Government of Ukraine to enforce

12 impartially the new election law, including provisions

13 calling for—

14 (A) the transparency of election proce15 dures;

16 (B) access for international election ob17 servers;

18 (C) multiparty representation on election

19 commissions;

20 (D) equal access to the media for all elec21 tion participants;

22 (E) an appeals process for electoral com23 missions and within the court system; and
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1 (F) administrative penalties for election

2 violations;

3 (4) urges the Government of Ukraine to meet

4 its commitments on democratic elections, as delin5 eated in the 1990 Copenhagen Document of the Or6 ganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

7 (OSCE), with respect to the campaign period and

8 election day, and to address issues identified by the

9 Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights

10 (ODIHR) of OSCE in its final report on the 1999

11 presidential election, such as state interference in

12 the campaign and pressure on the media; and

13 (5) calls upon the Government of Ukraine to

14 allow election monitors from the ODIHR, other par15 ticipating states of OSCE, and private institutions

16 and organizations, both foreign and domestic, full

17 access to all aspects of the parliamentary election

18 process, including—

19 (A) access to political events attended by

20 the public during the campaign period;

21 (B) access to voting and counting proce22 dures at polling stations and electoral commis23 sion meetings on election day, including proce24 dures to release election results on a precinct by

25 precinct basis as they become available; and
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1 (C) access to postelection tabulation of re2 sults and processing of election challenges and

3 complaints.

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