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 elec-
tions on March 31, 2002, its third parliamentary elec-
tions 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 develop-
ment;
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 par-
ties 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 com-
mitments of the Organization for Security and Coopera-
tion in Europe (OSCE) on democracy and the conduct of
elections, could potentially slow Ukraine’s efforts to inte-
grate into western institutions;
Whereas in recent years, government corruption and harass-
ment of the media have raised concerns about the com-
mitment 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 as-
sistance;
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 Re-
lated Programs Appropriations Act, Fiscal Year 2002), a
$16,000,000 reduction in funding from the previous fis-
cal 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 De-
partment of State on the progress by the Government of
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Ukraine in investigating and bringing to justice individ-
uals 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 democ-
racy 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 state-
owned 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 wide-
spread 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 No-
vember 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 im-
portant respects, notably by not including a role for do-
mestic nongovernmental organizations to monitor elec-
tions;
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 De-
cember 13, 2001, rejected a draft Law on Political Ad-
vertising and Agitation, which would have limited free
speech in the campaign period by giving too many discre-
tionary 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 orga-
nization that was established in 1994 to monitor the con-
duct 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 in-
formation about political opponents:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives—
(1) acknowledges the strong relationship be-
tween the United States and Ukraine since
Ukraine’s independence more than 10 years ago,
while understanding that Ukraine can only become
a full partner in western institutions when it fully
embraces democratic principles;
(2) expresses its support for the efforts of the
Ukrainian people to promote democracy, the rule of
law, and respect for human rights in Ukraine;
(3) urges the Government of Ukraine to enforce
impartially the new election law, including provisions
calling for—
(A) the transparency of election proce-
dures;
(B) access for international election ob-
servers;
(C) multiparty representation on election
commissions;
(D) equal access to the media for all elec-
tion participants;
(E) an appeals process for electoral com-
missions and within the court system; and
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(F) administrative penalties for election
violations;
(4) urges the Government of Ukraine to meet
its commitments on democratic elections, as delin-
eated in the 1990 Copenhagen Document of the Or-
ganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE), with respect to the campaign period and
election day, and to address issues identified by the
Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR) of OSCE in its final report on the 1999
presidential election, such as state interference in
the campaign and pressure on the media; and
(5) calls upon the Government of Ukraine to
allow election monitors from the ODIHR, other par-
ticipating states of OSCE, and private institutions
and organizations, both foreign and domestic, full
access to all aspects of the parliamentary election
process, including—
(A) access to political events attended by
the public during the campaign period;
(B) access to voting and counting proce-
dures at polling stations and electoral commis-
sion meetings on election day, including proce-
dures to release election results on a precinct by
precinct basis as they become available; and