Prava Ludyny     October 1998

Our militia is not always overactive in catching Mafiosi. But if the matter is catching ill old women, then the militia is irreproachable. A 64-year-old Evgenia B., an invalid of the second group, gets a pension of 37 grivnas. As everyone knows, nobody can survive on such a pension. So she had to sell some trinkets and snacks from a cart in the village of Beliavka, Odessa region. She put her cart near the club, but was rudely kicked out of there by V.Kolesnichenko, an officer of road militia. He did not want competition: in this club he held his family business – a bar registered to the name of his son, a student in Odessa.

Evgenia found another nook, near the school. She had to: her husband was dying of lung cancer, gas from her house was cut off for non-payment (in the middle of winter). She did not know that V.Kolesnichenko’s wife was the principal of the school, and the school canteen was privatized (and also registered on the son’s name), so again Evgenia’s cart started to compete with the militiaman family business.

So, one slushy day in February 1998 Kolesnichenko accompanied by two militiamen drove up to school, threw the cart to the boot, handcuffed Evgenia and brought her to the executive committee. They threatened the woman to arrest her and to confiscate her house. Then one of the militiamen, Bibin, opened the boot and threw the cart wheals up to the puddle. Evgenia, a stout woman, got on her knees and started to collect her goods.

Evgenia complained to the Odessa directorate of road police. Deputy head of the directorate I.Karpenko answered with a Solomon resolution: ‘The complaint has been considered, the road militia inspector V.Kolesnichenko has no relation to the mentioned selling points, since they are registered to the name of A.Kolesnichenko’. The complaint to the regional directorate of the Ministry of Interior was answered three months later by Lieutenant-Colonel A.Melnichuk: ‘Your complaint has been considered most attentively. The facts have not been confirmed’.

Impunity is the most dangerous factor. What it is doing we observe daily with our own eyes.

During several recent months the transport militia of Ukraine confiscated from passengers a lot of arms and ammunitions. In particular, they confiscated 1 grenade cup discharge, 2 Tommy-guns, 16 handguns, 28 rifles, 5 carbines, 6 saw-offs, 13 grenades, 5 artillery shells, 8.5 kilograms of explosives, 6,400 cartridges and 348 units of cold steel.

Medical staff of Kerch oncological dispensary smelled smoke in the operation hall. The search for the fire was started. In the garret the searchers found old mattresses, extinguished fire, a freshly skinned cat and some pelts of previously eaten cats.

The explanation is obvious. A lot of tramps drift to the south of the country in colder seasons. There are no doss-houses in Kerch. The newcomers scatter in garrets and cellars, mix with deserters from the local boarding-school, build fires and exterminate stray animals.

Law enforcing agencies of Kharkov carried out another regular prophylactic raid to catch minor beggars, tramps, prostitutes. Such raids (in execution of the resolution of the city committee) are carried in Kharkov each fortnight.

During the last raid 20 minor beggars were detained, fed and washed, 4 of them were directed to the VD dispensary. Some children were returned to their families, some were directed to orphanages.

This year as a result of the raids 230 children were detained. The analysis of the reasons confirmed the obvious – catastrophic economic state of their families.

Communal services of Mariupol signed the order on the premature closure of the ‘velvet season’ on Azov-Sea beaches near Mariupol. The reason was that, as a result of the emergency cutoff of the electric energy, cleaning systems threw into the sea 14,000 cubic meters of feces. The stench is felt several hundred meters from the water front.

As Evgeniy Vorobyov, the head of Mariupol headquarters of civil defense, informed that the emergency cutoff of electricity occurred because of the negligence of a truck driver who tore off the cable by a lifted body of his truck. According to Valeriy Serenko, the deputy head of the main ecological inspection, because of non-stopping storm the ecologists of the state inspection for protecting the Azov Sea managed to arrive on a cutter only several days later. Now nobody bathes in the Azov Sea, but, according to V.Serenko, it has resulted because of cold weather.

The laws are liberal, and the firm ‘Keramik’ where the truck driver works will pay a fine of about one hundred dollars.

The ecological commission continues to work in the place of the accident.

The boundary of poverty is established now at the income of 73.7 grivnas per month. The proportion of the Ukrainian population having the mean income lower than this boundary equals 25.9 million (51.5%) in the second quarter of the current year.

The state committee of statistics informed that in the first quarter the number of the poor was 26.6 million (52.8%). According to the results of investigating family budgets the mean monthly budget per month per head equaled 87.41 grivnas in the first half of the current year: 101.89 grivnas for the town population and 51.1 grivnas for the rural population. If compared with the similar period of the previous year, the income increased by 2.5%, 0.4% and 3.6%, respectively.

According to the statistical data, the proportion of the Ukrainian population with the income 60 - 90 grivnas per head per month in the first quarter decreased slightly. As to higher incomes, the income of 210 - 300 grivnas had 3.5% of the population, and above 300 grivnas – 1.33%. The income is growing: the income for July was by 8.4 grivnas greater than in June.

Editor’s comment. According to the data of independent experts, 60% of the total income is obtained in the shady economy (official experts give a lower estimate – 40%). Some of the independent experts, for example the well-known economist Aleksandr Paskhaver, asserts that on the average everyone earns three unofficial salaries for one official. Thus, the official statistics provides a too black picture. Nonetheless, it looks very plausible that not less than 30% of the population have the income below the boundary of poverty: they are mainly pensioners, invalids, families with many children, most part of the rural population. People survive mainly thanks to their orchards and vegetable gardens, the income from which the official statistics does not count in.

The government of Ukraine set the new ‘currency corridor’: now dollar is allowed to oscillate between 2.5 and 3.5 grivnas. A layman cannot understand in detail what it means but practically to all one thing is quite clear: the living standard is falling rather abruptly.

Dollar becomes more expensive, and all the prices, from soap to cars, soar. Prime-Minister Valeriy Pustovoytenko, National Bank President Viktor Yushchenko and lesser fry beg citizens not to panic and not to hurry in exchanging weakened grivnas for dollars. The authorities warn businessmen not to increase prices. They realize that increasing prices will reduce the inflow of money to the state budget. Then money emission will become inevitable, and the main creditor of Ukraine – the International currency fund – will retaliate.

Now the fund is directing the first tranche of 250 million USD, the first part of the enormous credit which exceeds 2 billion.

Some economy observers assert that Ukraine has already reached the financial crisis. They discuss for how many years will Ukraine be set back. What is the reason of the crisis? Specialists say that the government, having issued obligations of the external state loan and having obtained huge sum of money, did not manage to pay the credit percent, which made the National Bank pay it and thus reduce its currency reserve. That shattered the basis of grivna.

Is this explanation correct? A layman cannot be sure, but certainly the abrupt decrease of the currency reserve can provoke a financial crisis and then, perhaps, a political one.

The Popular Rukh of Ukraine demands from the government to immediately start ‘complex, systematic and efficient’ economic reforms in order to avoid the financial crisis and the complete collapse of economy. The Rukh demanded from the President, government and Parliament ‘to quit the fatal custom to live for debt’, since ‘springing the helix of internal and external borrowings without their efficient implementation for the development of production led to the situation when the threat of the crisis will accompany Ukraine not only this year, but in the subsequent 3 – 5 years’. The Rukh appealed to the Supreme Rada of Ukraine ‘to override their narrow-party interests’ and unite for the sake of the country and people’.

Recently the UNO published annual data about the living standard of the population in 172 countries for 1998. The highest level is observed in Canada, which by the way owes its prosperity, as some scientists suggest, to the hard-working Ukrainian Diaspora. In this list Russia is 72^nd. The last place is held by Sierra-Leone, a country lying on the Atlantic coast of the North Africa, with population about four million, 60% of which is occupied in agriculture. Ukraine is steadily catching up with Sierra-Leone, having moved from 95^th place in 1997 to 102^nd place in 1998. Only Moldova is lower than Ukraine out of European countries.

This year Ukrainian miners, owing to strikes and other protest actions, did not get out more than 3 million tonnes of coal, and, according to the Minister of Coal Mining, the losses of the coal mining branch exceeded 200 million grivnas.

Miners’ demands are purely economic: they want their pay arrears. However, the government issues resolutions and takes measures, instead of giving money. Meanwhile the debt continues to grow and by the 1^st of September the debts reached 2217 million grivnas in wages (which is more than one third of the total pay arrears in the country), 188 million grivnas in claims and 233 million grivnas in compensations for professional injuries. 259 miners have perished this year as a result of emergencies.

The Minister of Coal Mining approved the timetable for paying debts in wages; the time table is executed by 35-40%. The abrupt fall in the exchange rate of grivna means that people carry out significant financial losses.

Systematical massive violations of the right of working people to get pay for their labor increases social tensions and can have fatal results.

On 29 September about 400 operators of Ukrainian atomic stations marched down the Kreshchatik and started picketing the building of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Their principal demand is the timely pay and compensating of pay arrears for several months.

The capital administration permitted picketing till 4 October. Aleksey Lych, the chairman of the united trade union of the company ‘Energoatom’, told newsmen that the continuation of the action would depend on the actions of the government concerning the pay.

On 14 September one of the largest plants in Ukraine, ‘Motor-sich’, stopped. The plant administration said that the principal reason was stopping payments form Russia to which the bulk of the production is directed.

During the first half of September foodstuffs in shops became more expensive by 2.9% and at city markets – by 3.8%. Most of all the prices grew for cucumbers and rice (19.4% and 16.0%, respectively). Eggs, vegetable oil, butter, tea, cigarettes, sugar, vodka became more expensive by 3.3 – 9.5%.

Among others, prices for such inedible goods as gas and synthetic detergents grew by 13.7 – 16.4%.

As to services, most of all the price grew for transportation in suburban buses – by 4.3%.

Many citizens write to the General Prosecutor’s office of Ukraine, complaining at soaring prices for goods and services. Naturally, the poorest layer suffers most of all. The General Prosecutor of Ukraine ordered to all subordinate prosecutors to check the situation at once. The main attention should be focused at growing prices of the home-made goods of first necessity.

Each citizen can inform the authorities on growing prices by phoning to a prosecutor’s office of any level.

The XIII-th congress of the social-democratic party of Ukraine (united) will be held on 3 October in Kyiv. Vasiliy Onopenko, chairman of the party and the coordinator in preparing and holding the congress, informed journalists that the congress would prepare changes and amendments to the statute of the SDPU(u), the concept of the party development and the draft of the document ‘Concept of development of Ukrainian economics. Economic platform of the SDPU(u)’.

The Supreme Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading the draft of the new Penal Code, where the capital punishment is forbidden. 242 deputies voted for this draft.

Suzanna Stanik, the Minister of Justice of Ukraine, informed the deputies that in the new Penal Code the death penalty is replaced with the imprisonment for life. She also informed that the punishment of some categories of the condemned will be not incarceration but the so-called limitation of freedom by the term from one to five years in so-called correctional establishments of the open type with compulsory labor. She also informed that criminal actions will be classified into four classes: slight, average, grave and very grave. In contrast to the operating Penal Code the draft does not contain the concept of a dangerous recidivist.

Yuri Karmazin, the head of the Parliamentary committee of legislation for law enforcing and fighting with organized crime and corruption, took the floor on behalf of his committee and expressed his firm belief that the death penalty must not be abolished. According to his words, the number of premeditated murders grows annually. So, in 1994 there were 4571, in 1995 – 4783, in 1996 – 4896 and only in 1997 a slight tendency to decrease – 4529 murders – was observed.

Besides, Mr Karmazin said, more than 100 ordered killings were committed in 1996-97. Yu.Karmazin also quoted the results of sociological polls, according to which 75% pollees spoke for preservation of death penalty and for the extension of the number of articles for which the death penalty should be applied. According to Yu.Karmazin, only 5% of pollees protested against the death penalty.

President Leonid Kuchma issued the edict ‘On perfecting state control over information sphere’. In particular, this edict orders to create the state agency of information in Ukraine, which will be the successor of the national agency on information at President’s administration. The new agency will be subordinated to the Ministry of Information.

The President also approved the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers to create the state shareholding company ‘Ukrainian television and broadcasting’, as well as the state shareholding company ‘Ukrainian publishing and polygraph association’.

In Chernovtsy region meetings were held at establishing four points of simplified frontier crossing between Ukraine and Romania. Three of them are intended for automobile crossing: Diakivtsy - Rakovets, Krasnogorsk – Vekovo de Sus, Ruska – Ulma, and one crossing for pedestrians: Bely Kolodets – Klemoutsy.

The press service of Chernovtsy region administration told newsmen that an additional protocol was signed to the agreement ‘On cooperation between Suchav district and Chernovtsy region’, according to which taxes for crossing the frontier are not taken from the inhabitants of the frontier zone of Ukraine and Romania.

Evgeniy Kushnarev, the head of the President’s administration, told that Ukraine and Uzbekistan simplified the procedure of getting the Ukrainian citizenship to the people who once had been deported to Uzbekistan and members of their families. The people mentioned must not answer to such demands as non-stop five-year residence in Ukraine, adequate knowledge of the Ukrainian language, etc. According to Mr Kushnarev, the simplified decision of this question will concern more than 60 thousand of the Crimean Tartars who came to Ukraine from Uzbekistan.

Since 1 September of the current year 18 towns and 116 districts of Ukraine will live under a new regime – the regime of ‘controlled frontier area’, which is introduced by two resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers. This is done to fight with illegal migrants and smugglers. In order to appease the inhabitants of the new zone mass media started to publish reports of the State Committee of frontier defense with astronomical numbers of detained migrants, confiscated firearms, tonnes of drugs and boxes of ammunitions. It is interesting by which methods the Ukrainian bureaucrats are going to preserve the virginity of the frontier.

First of all, they intend to make numerous changes in traffic rules in order to suppress the traffic in the frontier zone. Road signs ‘frontier zone’ and ‘entrance forbidden’ will be set on many roads. The roads will be classified into roads with limited traffic and roads to be demolished. Some paths will be selected along which one may walk. To walk along other paths, along banks of rivers and even on ice of frontier water reservoirs will be forbidden.

Secondly, local state administrations and frontier guards will select places ‘for mass recreation of the population’ as well as for swimming, fishing and cattle grazing. The cattle is regarded perhaps as illegal migrants or/and smugglers.

Thirdly, video films in the frontier zone may be taken only with the permission of the corresponding unit of frontier guards of Ukraine. So Pavel Sheremet (who suffered for taking films on the frontier of Russia and Belorus) should not be recommended to appear in Ukraine. Even taking films, to say nothing about crossing the frontier, may serve as a basis for administrative responsibility and ‘other responsibility according to law’.

The control for observing the frontier regime is put on frontier guards, the Ministry of Interior and ‘volunteer units for assistance to frontier guards in defense of state frontier’. All these agencies have the right to stop and inspect transport of any form of ownership.

All people moving in the frontier zone have to carry identifying documents. It will be especially difficult to foreigners and apatrides, who must have not only Ids, but also some documents that justify the necessity of their staying in the frontier zone (by the way, this zone is equal to one fifth of the territory of the country).

I think that in the near future the Ukrainian authorities will not be idle: there is such a lot of things to control! This pleasant news, perhaps, should be supplemented by several pieces of useful advise for persons who are going to visit Ukraine:

1. If you still have not decided which part of the country you are going to visit, avoid ‘controlled frontier zone’. But if you want to rest on the seashore or to visit your relatives, who were careless enough to settle in the frontier zone, then be prepared to prove at any moment the necessity of your stay in the zone.
2. If you intend to rest on the shore of the Black or Azov Sea, glue to your swimming trunks a waterproof pocket to keep there your passport and other documents that identify you and prove the necessity to be in ‘the water within the frontier zone’.
3. If you find out that in the beach change room you are attentively observed, do not worry: according to Article 38 of the Resolution on frontier regime, the beaches ‘are equipped with necessary means of control’.
4. If a group of strangers would stop and search your car, do not worry: may be they are robbers or may be they are volunteers, aiding frontier guards to defend the frontier.

Welcome to Ukraine!

In theory Ukraine is a law-abiding and law-ruled state, where everyone has the right for fair justice given in reasonable terms by an independent court based on law. In the rude reality justice may have peculiarities, as my own experience shows.

In the end of 1991 I worked as a head of the productive-technological department of a Zaporozhye plant АТП-0801. Director Vdovichenko fired me from my job because I did not agree to write off some automobiles since they were still operating. I handed a claim to Shevchenkovskiy district court of Zaporozhye demanding the compensation for my illegal dismissal. Since that time, almost during 7 years, chairman of this court A.Popov has not solved the case. During this time I handed complaints more than 100 times; I wrote to P.Kravtsov, the chairman of the region court, to General Prosecutor’s office of Ukraine, the Supreme Court of Ukraine, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, to people’s deputies of Ukraine, to the President of Ukraine, etc. All my complaints returned to A.Popov, at whom the complaints are directed.

In particular, I directed more than 20 complaints to the chairman of the region court. All the times I obtained only formal meaningless or false answers. Only once, two years later, deputy city prosecutor A.Ostrenko issued a protest at the decision of Shevchenkovskiy district court where he noticed 8 gross violations of the procedure, but nothing resulted.

What is the reason why judge Popov has not resolved my claim since 1991? The reason is simple. Director Vdovichenko, which is confirmed by documents, provides gas to A.Popov in the form of a mysterious ‘material aid’.

In 1996 I turned to the region prosecutor’s office and informed it on these donations. The prosecutor’s office did not inform me on the results of the investigation, but judge Popov summoned me and threatened to destroy me.

Prosecutor of Shevchenkovskiy district V.I.Barbashchin started a criminal case against me. After some time, about 6 o’clock a.m. on 26 February 1997, a group of militiamen broke into my home, put handcuffs on me and accused me of not having come to the court session of which I never heard and never got summons to it. Then I was transported to Dnepropetrovsk preliminary prison. All this time I was kept without food and drink.

I was incarcerated up to 2 April 1997. All this time my son was looking for me in hospitals and mortuaries.

The preliminary prison resembled hell. I was 62 then and rather ill. The conditions were much worse than for kolkhoz cattle. The cell for six persons accommodated 18 inmates. The window was hammered with planks, the electricity was so dim that it was impossible to read (but reading was forbidden). In daytime we were ordered to stand, the berths were of bare planks. Although bed-clothes were absent, lice were abundant. The wardens communicated with us only in bad language. One of my cellmates, an elderly man, set down in daytime. For punishment he was ordered to undress and lie on the cold cement floor. A fortnight after incarceration two OMON-men called me to the passage and beat me just for training. In particular, they broke me a rib and a muscle on the buttocks. So I was unable to sit and lie on my back.

On 2 April I was brought to the courtroom handcuffed and accompanied by soldiers armed with Tommy-guns. Judge L.Drybas, who chaired the court, accused me in many crimes according to Articles 125 Part 3 and 176 Part 3 of the Penal Code of Ukraine. Without any documents and witnesses he ‘proved’ that I insulted judge Popov in connection with his service activities, humiliated his honor and dignity and accused him in bribe-taking. I was sentenced to some punishment, but was released, since my case got under amnesty.,

A year later I became a little healthier after the torture in the preliminary prison. I intend to continue my fight within the system of national legislation. If I fail, I am going to apply to the international court in Strasbourg.

In Nikolayev region court a trial that has been lasting almost four years is finished. The accused was Pavel Kudiukin, the former president of the company ‘Blasko’, who was accused by five articles of the Penal Code of Ukraine. The court sentenced Kudiukin to ten years of imprisonment, of which he did three and the half years during operative and detective activities. In future Kudiukin is prohibited to hold administrative positions. Besides, Kudiukin’s account in the German Kommerzbank (DM 1.315 million) must be returned to Ukraine.

***

In the city court of Sebastopol the trial has finished which lasted more than two weeks. The suspect was a former deputy of Simferopol city council, vice-president of the union of producers of the Crimea Sergey Voronkov. He was judged for illegal purchase and keeping of firearms.

Voronkov had to be elected to the position of Simferopol mayor. When he was arrested, a dozen of various public, religious and national organizations campaigned for his release. The election passed and Voronkov got two years of imprisonment in the common regime colony.

***

The press center of the prosecutor’s office of Zaporozhye region distributed in mass media the information on the facts of misuse of power by Zaporozhye mayor Aleksandr Golovko. Two criminal cases have been started, operative and detective activities are carried out.

***

Less than two months sufficed for the mayor of Tsuriupinsk to be caught. The regional directorate for struggle with organized crime caught the mayor at night. He is suspected in car stealing.

***

Ludmila Kobernik, the former mayor of Kherson has been arrested. She is the main suspect in the criminal case of embezzling and misuse of power in the city executive committee. The former mayor is kept in the local preliminary prison under the same conditions as other inmates.

They won the case which had to be won only in Donetsk region: in all other regions of Ukraine the law ‘On the status of war veterans and guarantees of their social protection’ was observed.

In December 1995 the law was adopted that equalized in rights war veterans and servicemen who had become invalids during the liquidation of the Chernobyl catastrophe. These people belonged to the category of the population who were mobilized during the Chernobyl catastrophe and sent there to liquidate the consequences.

All seems clear but in Donetsk region Directorate of social protection of population the bureaucrats thought otherwise, and Chernobyl liquidators could not get their due privileges.

So, Chernobyl liquidators started another fight, this time not with the atomic explosion, but with local bureaucrats, and it is not easy to say what was more difficult.

At last, after the resolution of the Constitutional Court, the city court for the third time considered the claim of 26 Chernobyl liquidators and on 16 April 1998 ruled that the claimants should get certificates on invalidity, get the auxiliary pay since January 1996 (it is about 800 – 1000 grivnas per head) and moral damages of 250 grivnas.

The main role in this achievement belonged to Nikolay Yarema, the deputy head of the regional union of Chernobyl invalids, and A.M.Kolomiets, an independent advocate.

The winners of the case intend to transfer the obtained moral damages to the local orphanage.

According to the data of the Ministry of Justice, the courts of Ukraine considered 122122 criminal cases in the first half of 1998 (to compare, 232167 criminal cases were considered for the whole previous year). 125429 suspects were considered guilty (237790 for the whole 1997); 46144 were sentenced to incarceration (83396 for the whole 1997); 444 were acqutted (950 for the whole 1997).

This was done by 3558 judges who work in 742 district and town courts of Ukraine plus 1159 Femida’s servants of region courts, the Supreme court of the Crimea, city courts of Kyiv and Sebastopol.

Since the beginning of the year 24 thousand criminal cases concerning 19 thousand people have been started in the country. The quantity of drugs confiscated by law enforcing agencies reached 16 tonnes. Militia uncovered more than 60 criminal groups that produced and pushed drugs; 6 secret laboratories that produced synthetic drugs were found and 5 transport channels were intersected.

A funeral was held in Kupiansk of militia major Mikhail Stepanishin, who did not live several days to his pension.

The drama occurred on 18 September at night between the villages of Prosianka and Gusynka where the summer farm of the local bakery is located. According to militia, they wanted just to have a chat with watchman Mykola Kovalenko, but the latter locked himself in a metallic container, opened fire and killed the militiaman.

A special group came from the regional directorate, a service investigation has been started, the watchman has been arrested and detective Vasiliy Shulga has been appointed to investigate the crime. I tried to interview the militia but was given no comments. A Lydia Smolenskaya, the eye-witness, told me the following (I have a tape record).

“That evening I came to Mykola Kovalenko on a motorcycle. We were sitting in his metallic container, which served for a watchman’s booth. Suddenly in the open door we saw a car with lighted headlights. Mykola, although he was armed with a shotgun, was troubled: they could be robbers who came for cattle.

We shut the door. Those who came addressed us in dirty language and demanded to open the door. They said they were militiamen. Mykola answered: ‘I know well major Umayev. Bring him or bring my chief Aleksandr Taran, then I shall open the door.’ Two strangers remained and the car went off. Those who remained promised to roast Mykola. They brought branches and set them on fire. We were sitting and choking from smoke. I asked for mercy. A voice said: ‘Ah, here is a heifer too.’

Soon a jeep came with reserves. The door was broken and a hand with a pistol appeared in the gap. Mykola cried: ‘Do not enter, I shall shoot!’

Firing started, someone groaned. I was wounded in the right shoulder. Later I was transported to the district hospital and operated.”

Viktor Fomenko, an engineer from the bakery, told me the following:

“In the morning I and director Valentin Grishko went to the place of the accident. Under the container we saw ashes and other traces of fire. We do not find the watchman guilty.”

‘Mykola Kovalenko is a kind and quite man,’ – told everyone who knows him. – ‘Ask anyone in Prosianka. What is amazing that he is the godfather of the father-in-law of the killed Misha Stepanishin.’

What will be the result of operative and detective activities, I am afraid to forecast, but I know that militiamen are not sinless. According to the words of deputy town prosecutor Vasiliy Liashev, practically all heads of militia departments in the town of Kupiansk are replaced, and some are condemned. Some of militia officers already negate the very fact of roasting peasants in a metallic container.

24 Kharkovites perished during their service in the armed forces of Ukraine in 1994-95. Four of them died of beating (‘dedovshchina’), six died in road accidents, four – in other accidents, two froze to death and five committed suicide. 33 Kharkovites more returned from the army as invalids.

The newspaper ‘My’ published by the ‘Ukrainska perspectiva’ fund is persecuted again. Oksana Kusmanian, the judge of Starokyivskiy district court of the city of Kyiv, considered the claim of O.Omelchenko, the head of the local state administration, and established that the publication contains a calumny against the Ukrainian President. The newspaper appealed not to vote for Kuchma at the next election. The court regarded it as libel.

***

Another victim of the libel claim is the weekly ‘Novy den’ from Kherson. The claimant is Sergey Kirichenko, a deputy of the Supreme Rada of Ukraine. The newspaper criticized the deputy, the deputy wants 20 thousand grivnas for moral damage and … the court decision to close the weekly.

The repeated election of Odessa mayor has passed. R.B.Bodelan, the former secretary of the regional committee of the Communist party and later the former governor has won the mayor’s armchair. The election was wild, full of violations of law. Most of inhabitants voted by legs. Only 100,251 people (13.5% of the total electorate) voted for Bodelan. The election campaign was very loud and very expensive: people say that for the money wasted the whole Odessa could be supported for one year.

Nobody believes in 100,251 voters, experienced politicians say that not more than 40,000 voted for Bodelan. Frankly, I do not believe in 40,000. There were lots of violations of the election law but Odessa courts do not react. The three candidates who lost the election wrote to the Supreme Court of Ukraine. There they say that they do not trust any court in Odessa region since chairman of Odessa region court A.Luniachenko is a friend of Bodelan and his hatchet-man Balukh. The latter has the only chance to remain in power by providing Bodelan’s victory by any means. To this end, Luniachenko and Balukh organized a campaign of unprecedented pressure on other judges in order to prevent just decisions about the violations of the law during the election. The letter of the three candidates contains further details: ‘Luniachenko himself summoned chairmen of the courts which received the claims on the violations of the election law and started the negotiations with the words: ”I hope that we shall work together in the future”. After this introduction he explained that all the claims should be refused’.

‘These negotiations were passed by the chairmen to subordinate judges of district courts, who massively issued illegal resolutions in order not to spoil the relations with the chairman of Odessa region court’.

The Supreme Court of Ukraine refused to consider the case and ruled that all such claims should be considered in Odessa.

What awaits us in the future? We must recognize the famous Cicero’s saying that votes should be weighed, not counted. Odessa demonstrated the well-known thesis that democracy has a mechanism for its demolishing – the free election. Especially if we elect freely and count secretly.

79,000 (!) of AIDS-infected have been registered in Odessa region. The abrupt growth began two years ago, and the tendency has not been stopped yet. The number of AIDS-infected grows by 50% every year. Parallelly and at the same rate the number of syphilis-infected grows. To fight this trouble a new public organization has been formed named ‘Faith, hope and love’. The organization was supported by many volunteers including doctors, lawyers and law enforcing officers. A year ago a very unusual event occurred in this port city: a conference of prostitutes was held, the first in the CIS. Many officials of power structures, medicine, psychology, militia, public organizations and mass media participated in the conference. The resolution was taken to create a non-government organization that would protect the human rights of sex peddlers and would promote the propaganda of the healthy way of life, the control and treatment of diseases passed in sexual relations. Nowadays this organization has already been created and got the name ‘Maria Magdalene’.

In the headquarters of Kharkov region administration a teachers’ conference was held devoted to the beginning of the school year. Governor Oleg Demin and the head of Education Directorate Aleksandr Sidorenko took the floor. Mr Sidorenko declared that pay arrears and leave pays to Kharkov teachers had been given. There are data, however, that in some districts teachers have not got their salaries for several months.

Parallelly, the book fair was opened in Kharkov teacher’s house. More than one thousand textbooks for all grades were exhibited. The textbooks have been published in Vinnitsa, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kyiv, Lviv, Ternopil and Kharkov. The prices are 1.5 – 2 times cheaper than in bookshops and bookstalls (up to this year, textbooks were free of charge). Organizers suggest to make the exhibition permanent.

Specialists in children nutrition have come across with an unexpected phenomenon. It appeared that a large proportion of schoolchildren have their lunches not in the school canteens but in restaurants. These restaurant frequenters are not dandified pupils of older grades, but small fry, pupils of the third-forth grades: during the large break their governors come to them and take them to a restaurant and back by car.

‘Such a case would seem wild a decade ago’, said Valentina Kulchitskaya, the head of the laboratory of children nutrition. As the poll showed, about a quarter of schoolchildren regularly eat red and black caviar, expensive meat and fish. One prosperous grandmother complained that her grandson is badly fed in the gymnasium: they give a chop everyday! The grandmother wanted a more diverse menu, with yogurts and fish.

‘Certainly, well-fed children learn in lyceums and gymnasiums’, continues Valentina Kulchitskaya. – ‘In all lyceums of Kyiv children are given three hot meals. In usual schools the situation is quite different.’

Really, the contrast is striking. About 5% of ‘plain’ schoolchildren cannot afford to buy any snack in the school canteen nor take a lunch from home. Many of them do not eat a single gram of meat – their daily ration consists of bread and cereal. Since the time when two years ago free lunches for schoolchildren of 1 – 4 grades were cancelled only 5% can afford a hot lunch in the school canteen.

The school canteen is ‘out of fashion’, most schoolchildren munch sandwiches.

The schoolchildren with the prolonged day have to come to the canteen. In later years the food there deteriorated, the diet is uniform and consists of potatoes and cereals. Fruits and fruit juices, dairy products and fish is a rarity.

What are the results? The number of fat schoolchildren has fallen but every tenth child is too meager and undergrown. The laboratory of children nutrition has the data for the last 30 years. The tendency of degeneration is quite certain.

During four years the International Institute of Sociology in Kyiv has studied xenophobia in Ukraine. Volodymir Paniotto, the director of the institute, made public some results.

The general level of xenophobia is high: 30-40% of the population have ethnic prejudices. It should be noted that this indicator increases in time.

The highest intolerance is to Gypsies: more than half of the population does not want them to be Ukrainian citizens. The negative attitude to Gypsies is exceeded only by black Africans: 60% do not want to tolerate them in Ukraine, but black Africans are very few. The next after Gypsies, if one considers numerous groups, are Romanians.

The level of xenophobia depends on the type of the dwelling (town or village) and the level of the education. Inhabitants of villages are naturally less tolerant than town dwellers, the dependence on the education is also expectable: the lower education, the higher is the xenophobia level. There is no significant difference between Russians and Ukrainians.

The next undesirable ethnic group are Jews: about one third of the pollees do not want Jews to be citizens of Ukraine and 80% would not like to have Jews in their families.

Since the population suffers from the high degree of social apathy, the probability of any uncontrollable mass actions, such as pogroms, is negligibly small.

The State Department of the USA warned American citizens of African and Asiatic dissent that, while staying in Ukraine, they can become objects of racism motivated attacks.

The American embassy in Kyiv knows about two recent attacks on Afro-Americans. Representatives of the embassy state that militia often stops and searches people of African and Asiatic origin, abusing and humiliating them. The embassy recommended Americans to carry on them photocopies of the passport and, being detained, obey all the orders of law enforcing officers and keep repeating that they are American citizens and they want to contact representatives of their country.

Recently the government of Ukraine has handed out a subsequent million of grivnas for the capital construction to the Tartars returning to their native land. They build roads, they build houses, and these houses are not huts – they are two-three storeyed villas. Visitors to the Crimea admire the new buildings.

However the local population, both Russian and Russian-speaking, do not admire. They are afraid of the growing number of Tartars; very often one may hear the expression '‘second Chechnya’.

It rumors that the Tartars are given by their leaders the order ‘Multiply!’ Russians are sure that when the proportion of the Tartar population becomes significant, they will make the peninsular to unite with Turks, their Islamic brothers and allies for centuries. Then, the prophets say, the Chechen scenario will be repeated. The more so that there is an agreement with Chechen field commanders of joint actions. The prospect seems to be aweful.

The local newspapers permanently assert that Ukraine promotes the return of Tartars to counteract the wish of the Russian population to join Russia. Local supporters of joining Russia are angry at Tartars as probable enemies, at Kyiv because it does not like to give the Crimea back to Russia and at Moscow because it too weakly fights for the native Russian land lost by the whim of Nikita Khrushchev. The atmosphere is made more and more unstable because of raging gangsterism, prostitution, corruption of the authorities and a quickly forming precipice between beggars and new millionaires.

All this worries visitors, who come for rest (more than half of them come from Russia), very little. They understand that if the Crimea belonged to Russia, they could not afford the rest on the beaches of the only warm sea in all the CIS countries. And what will become in the nearest 20 – 30 years, they say, must worry the next generation.

A human rights protection group working with Odessa ‘Memorial’ specializes in protecting rights of the citizens who are incarcerated in preliminary prisons, prisons and colonies. Two days a week lawyers work in the reception office of ‘Memorial’. Clients get free counseling, sometimes the lawyers of the group take part in trials. The group is headed by Valeriy Lokaychuk, clients are received by lawyers A.Firiabova, N.Vasilyeva and A.Petrovskaya.

All the 30 soldiers recruited from Kharkov and Kharkov region to one unit in Zaporozhye region were transferred to another military unit. The information about this fact was given by Colonel V.Serbin, the deputy head of the indoctrination directorate in the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

This happened after the escape of four recruits from Kharkov. They came to commandant’s office of Kharkov garrison with complaints at ‘dedovshchina’. The parents of the deserters passed their complaints to the Kharkov Group for human rights protection and to the soldiers’ mothers union. These organizations, in their turn, addressed the Ministry of Defense. As a result, all the 30 soldiers were transferred to another military unit.

Soldiers will not be tried by the tribunal, since they escaped before the oath and voluntarily came to the commandant’s office.

The last meeting of the regional coordination Council for the social protection of population in Kharkov was devoted to the celebration of the International day of elderly people. We remind the reader that, according to the decision of the UNO General Assembly, the day of elderly people throughout the world is celebrated on the 1 October. In all towns and villages of Kharkov region free charity dinners will be provided to elderly people, free excursions will be organized to Kharkov theatres, movie theatres and museums.

Recently a meeting of the Gypsy community of Kharkov region has been held. The meeting is devoted to the distribution of material aid to Gypsies who suffered during the war from the German occupants. The aid consists of one donation given by the Swiss fund for the holocaust victims. The sum will be given by two parts equal to 400 and 600 USD, respectively.

The celebration of the Miner’s day in Donetsk ended with bloodshed in the course of the clashes with militia. In the evening of 30 August after the end of the concert of music hall stars on Lenin’s square, the discotheque had to begin. By this time the square was overcrowded mainly by younger people. According to eye witnesses militiamen in bulletproof vests started to extract from the crowd people who were drunken or drugged. A fight began, those who resisted were cruelly beaten with clubs. Sometimes innocent bystanders were beaten as well. Militia took away cameras from newsmen who tried to photograph the clashes. People were bleeding, the city authorities remained cold-blooded.

Next day neither militia nor motor ambulance service confirmed that serious injuries resulted. However, there are rumors about several deaths.

The resort centers of Ukraine situated on the shores of the Azov and Black Seas suffered many dangerous accidents in the end of summer. Here is the incomplete list.

… A large-scale forest fire raged in the Crimea near Yalta; the fire was extinguished only after four days.

… In Levadia reservation more than 100 hectares of coniferous forest was on fire. 530 firemen, 12 fire-cars, 2 helicopters and even 15 sea-divers took part in extinguishing the fire. This fire was the second in size forest fire in the Crimea for the last 15 years.

… In Donetsk region, on the shore of the Azov Sea, the motor delta plane crashed; the pilot was killed.

… In Mariupol, on the shore of the Azov Sea, two bodies of local fishermen were found; operative and detective activities were started.

… A cash of more than 400 artillery shells left from the Great Patriotic War was found on the shore; the shells were discharged by sappers of the Black Sea Navy.

… Simferopol militia obtained information that on the central square of the city under Lenin’s monument a suitcase stands for several days. Explosion experts from militia carried the suitcase a score of steps from the monument and exploded it with the small charge. It appeared that the suitcase was empty but fancy if it had powerful explosive inside!

Recently the newspaper ‘Priazovskiy rabochiy’ published an article headed ‘Yakov Gugel street has appeared in Mariupol’. But it would perhaps be easier to build the street than to rename it!

The first decision to rename the street was taken by ‘Memorial’ society (still unregistered then) on 18 August 1988. Yakov Gugel was the organizer, head of the construction and the first director of the famous giant works ‘Azovstal’. Then, being quite innocent, he was shot in the notorious 1937. More than once we wrote in the town press about Yakov Gugel but the local authorities pretended that they never read the press. Three times I sent requests on behalf of ‘Memorial’ society to chairman of the town council M.A.Pozhyvanov, but these letters mysteriously disappeared in various commissions. The chairman of one of them, the commission on renaming streets, sharply protested: ‘There is no money to feed children at school, and you want to waste money for renaming!’ – ‘Then why have you renamed the !st May avenue to Victory avenue?’ I asked. ‘It is needed politically,’ was the answer.

To put it in a nutshell we came to the last session of the town committee, bypassing the commission of renaming. The discussion was long and noisy, 16 members of the Communist fraction screamed their protests, but the mayor supported us and at last the decision was taken. Soon new address plates will appear on the houses. At last…

Next January Ukraine will have to hand the Council of Europe a report on how Ukraine fulfills her obligations. In principle, her membership can be suspended if Ukrainian obligations and especially problems with court trials concerning the election results will be found unsatisfactory.

This was told to newsmen at the press conference in Kyiv by Ms Hanna Severinsen, answering the question if the Ukrainian parliamentary delegation will be invited to the Parliament Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), taking into account that a member of the Ukrainian delegation Sergey Golovaty has to pass several trials, one of them about his MP status.

‘We shall recommend to acknowledge the Ukrainian delegation’, said Ms Severinsen, ‘since sanctions against Mr Golovaty can have a negative influence on other MPs and may prevent them to express their opinions.

Mr Tunne Kelam, a reporter on Ukraine, also expressed anxiety because of ‘infinite court trials’ connected with the election results. In his opinion, changes in the election law are needed to prevent so many conflicts. He pointed out that separation of various branches of power must be realized in Ukraine, since ‘there were many complaints about the interference of the executive power to the work of the judicial one.’

PACE’s representatives consider the death penalty a very serious problem in the relations of Ukraine and the Council of Europe. While answering a newsman’s remark on unreadiness of the public opinion in Ukraine to abolish the death penalty, Mr Kelam answered that Ukraine had to account for the public opinion before she gave the obligation. PACE’s representatives also spoke for the adoption of the new Penal and Civilian codes in the nearest time, as well as reforming the prosecutor’s office. All these conditions were accepted by Ukraine when joining the Council of Europe.

Mr Kelam pointed out that PACE’s representatives avoid to publish their judgement on performing obligations by Ukraine before this question is considered at a PACE conference next January.

A little more than 20 years ago some clever heads decided to build an atomic electric station (AES) in the resort zone of the Crimea. The town was named in honor of the atomic physicist academician Shchelkin. Not far from the planned station a monument was erected with the inscription ‘The Crimean AES’. In order to warm up patriotism monumental posters ‘We shall fulfill the task of the Party!’ and ‘Komsomol members! We shall build AES ahead of the schedule!’ decorated the road on both sides.

Soon the population of Shchelkino reached 14,000. Many buildings were finished (in particular, a very deep bomb shelter for the executive committee) and the atomic reactor BBP-1000 weighting 1.5 million tonnes has been brought to the site.

Meanwhile protectors of the environment protested very energetically and with many convincing arguments: the place was seismologically dangerous. The protest was organized and headed by Lydia Kudriavtseva, the chairperson of Shchelkino town council. The frantic struggle ended in victory of the protestants.

Now the town which elected Lydia Kudriavtseva as the mayor tries to change its fate. At the last resort season the rent of a bed in Shchelkino was as expensive as in Yalta; in August 1998 the competition in wind-surfing was held that gathered 10,000 participants. Similar competitions were held in previous years. They finished in a grand discotheque in the building of the reactor shop. This year the final discotheque was held on the beach.

The neighborhood of Shchelkino is one of the most suitable places for alternative energetic in the Crimea. But the solar electric station collapsed and the wind stations do not develop. Only the joint enterprise ‘Crimea Texas oil’ extracts valuable sorts of oil, but the oil wells were flooded in spring on the reservation Kazantip Cape.

Grigoriy Stalingradskiy was elected as the deputy mayor. His position is a fishing inspector. This is a very needed profession in this region because many poachers catching sturgeon operate in the neighborhood. Now the inspection office of protecting the Azov Sea will be based in Shchelkino.

By and by the town is groping for a new future. But the reactor is still lying in the hangar.

BEZUGLA Ludmila Yakivna, the fraction of the Progressive socialist party of Ukraine;

CHUBAROV Refat Abdurrakhmanovich, the fraction of the Popular Rukh of Ukraine;

DZHEMILEV Mustafa, the fraction of the Popular Rukh of Ukraine;

GOLUB Oleksandr Volodymirovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

KIRICHENKO Sergiy Oleksandrovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

KIYASHKO Sergiy Mykolayovych, the fraction of the block of the Socialist and Peasants parties of Ukraine;

KOVACH Mykola Mykolayovych, independent deputy;

MYGOVYCH Ivan Ivanovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

POPESKU Ivan Vasylyovych, the fraction of the Social-democratic party of Ukraine (united);

POPOV Georgiy Dmytrovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

PUSTOVOYTOV Volodymir Sergiyovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

SHTEPA Natalya Petrivna, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

ZADOROZHNA Tetiana Andriyivna, the fraction of ‘Gromada’.

ALEKSEEV Volodymir Genadyovych, independent deputy;

BAULIN Pavlo Borysovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

BILOUS Artur Oleksandrovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

CHAYKA Viktor Volodymirovich, the fraction of ‘Gromada’;

GAVRILOV Igor Oleksandrovich, the fraction of the party of the Green of Ukraine;

GMYRIA Sergiy Petrovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

KULYK Oleksandr Vasylyovich, the fraction of the Popular Rukh of Ukraine;

KUZNETSOV Oleksandr Borysovich, independent deputy;

LIUTIKOVA Irina Igorevna, the fraction of the party of the Green of Ukraine;

LYMAR Natalia Oleksiyovna, the fraction of the Progressive socialist party of Ukraine;

MISHURA Valeriy Dmytrovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

ONUFRIYCHUK Mykhaylo Yakovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

PONEDILKO Victor Ivanovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

POTIMKOV Sergiy Yuryevich, the fraction of the block of the Socialist and Peasants parties of Ukraine;

PRAVDENKO Sergiy Makarovich, the fraction of ‘Gromada’;

SHEVCHENKO Vitaliy Fedorovich, the fraction of the Popular Rukh of Ukraine;

STEPURA Vladyslav Sergiyovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

STRYZHKO Leonid Pavlovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

ZINCHENKO Oleksandr Oleksiyovich, the fraction of the Social-democratic party of Ukraine (united).

ANISHCHUK Volodymir Vasylyovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

BESPALUY Borys Yakovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

CHYVIUK Mykola Vasylyovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

FILENKO Volodymir Pylypovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

KOLIUSHKO Igor Borysovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

KUCHERENKO Valeriy Mykhaylovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

LAVRINENKO Mykola Fedorovich, the fraction of the block of the Socialist and Peasants parties of Ukraine;

LAVRYNOVICH Oleksandr Volodymirovich, the fraction of the Popular Rukh of Ukraine;

ONOPENKO Vasyl Vasylyovich, the fraction of the Social-democratic party of Ukraine (united);

PERESUNKO Sergiy Ivanovich, the fraction of the Social-democratic party of Ukraine (united);

PETROV Viktor Borysovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

RAYKOVSKIY Bronislav Stanislavovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

ROMOVSKA Zoryslava Vasylyovna, independent deputy;

SHYSHKIN Viktor Ivanovich, the fraction of ‘Gromada’;

STETSKIV Taras Stepanovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

SYMINENKO Petro Mykolayovych, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

TIVALOV Sergiy Vasylyovich, independent deputy;

YUSHCHIK Oleksiy Ivanovich, the fraction of the block of the Socialist and Peasants parties of Ukraine;

ZVARYCH Roman Mykhaylovich, the fraction of the Popular Rukh of Ukraine.

ALIOKHIN Volodymir Illich, the fraction of ‘Gromada’;

BANDURKA Oleksandr Markovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

BILAS Ivan Grigorovich, independent deputy;

BRODSKY Mykhaylo Yuriyovich, the fraction of ‘Gromada’;

CHERVONIY Vasyl Mykhaylovich, the fraction of the Popular Rukh of Ukraine;

DANYLCHUK Oleksandr Yuriyovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

ERMAK Anatoliy Vasylyovich, independent deputy;

FRANCHUK Igor Anatolyovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

GORBACHOV Viktor Sergiyovich, independent deputy;

GORBATOV Valeriy Myronovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

GUTSOL Mykhaylo Vasylyovich, the fraction of the party of the Green of Ukraine;

IVANOV Sergiy Anatolyovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

KHMELNYTSKIY Vasyl Ivanovich, the fraction of the party of the Green of Ukraine;

KOCHERGA Viktor Gerasimovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

KOROL Viktor Mykolayovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

KUKHARCHUK Oleg Sergiyovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

LANTUKH Vasyl Ivanovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

LISOGORSKIY Oleksiy Ivanovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

MALIEVSKIY Oleksandr Tykhonovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

MAZURENKO Volodymir Ivanovich, the fraction of the party of the Green of Ukraine;

MYRYMSKIY Lev Yuliyovich, independent deputy;

NASTENKO Oleksandr Anatolyovich, the fraction of ‘Gromada’;

NECHIPORUK Volodymir Pavlovich, the fraction of ‘Gromada’;

OMELCHENKO Grygoriy Onelianovich, independent deputy;

PYLYPCHUK Igor Maryanovich, the fraction of the Social-democratic party of Ukraine (united);

RAZVADOVSKIY Viktor Iosypovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

VASYLYEV Genadiy Andriyovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

ZHYR Oleksandr Oleksandrovich, independent deputy.

CHIKAL Adam Vasylyovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

DOMANSKIY Anatoliy Ivanovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

KOZHEVNYKOV Borys Mykhaylovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

KOZHIN Borys Borysovich, the fraction of the Popular Rukh of Ukraine;

LYTVAK Oleg Mykhaylovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

MANCHULENKO Georgiy Manoliyovich, the fraction of the Popular Rukh of Ukraine;

MUKHIN Volodymir Vasylyovich, the fraction of the block of the Socialist and Peasants parties of Ukraine;

MYCHKO Mykola Ivanovich, the fraction of ‘Gromada’;

SATSIUK Volodymir Mykolayovich, the fraction of the block of the Socialist and Peasants parties of Ukraine;

SHMAROV Valeriy Mykolayovich, the fraction of the Popular Democratic party of Ukraine;

SHTEPA Valeriy Dmytrovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

SIMONOV Volodymir Dmytrovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

SINCHENKO Sergiy Grugorovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

SMIRNOV Evgen Leonidovich, the fraction of ‘Gromada’;

STROGOV Anatoliy Nykanorovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

TISHCHENKO Oleksandr Vasylyovich, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

TKACHUK Viktor Arturovich, the fraction of the party of the Green of Ukraine;

YUKHYMETS Olga Fedorivna, the fraction of the Communist party of Ukraine;

ZUBOV Valentin Sergiyovich, the fraction of the block of the Socialist and Peasants parties of Ukraine.

The Kharkov Group for human rights protection jointly with the Kharkov publishing house ‘Folio’ issued several new publications.

The book ‘Texts and translations’ comprises philosophical works of one of the most fruitful modern Ukrainian philosopher and culturologist Taras Vozniak, the editor-in-chief of the magazine ‘I’, and translated by him articles and books by French and German existentialists, in particular, a famous book ‘To be and to have’ by Gabriel Marcel, various articles by Heidegger, Gadamer and others. Many of these works are published in Ukrainian for the first time. The book is published with support of the international fund ‘Vidrodzhennia’. According to the project, the majority of copies will be distributed by the Kharkov Group gratis, they will be directed to central, scientific and regional libraries, to the libraries of universities and departments of philosophy.

Four consecutive special issues of ‘Prava Ludyny’, Nos. 36-39 have been published. The author of Nos. 36-38 is the well-known constitutionalist Vsevolod Rechitskiy.

No.36 contains the model draft of the Ukrainian law ‘On public control over state activities’ created by V. Rechitskiy on the initiative and with participation of the Kharkov Group for human rights protection. This is the novel treatment of the idea of the public control over the state activities by non-government organizations; here a definition of a human rights protection organization is given, main principles of activities are formulated and so forth. The draft contains a number of quite new ideas about the information relations between the society and state.

No.37 contains the book ‘An essay on politics’, where the author suggests a new understanding of politics.

No.38 contains the book ‘Constitutionalism: Ukrainian experience’, where the author elucidates such questions as the phenomenon of organic (pre-constitutional) normativity, destination of a constitution, interrelations of constitution and freedom, etc.

No.39 is titled ‘Privileges of servicemen and members of their families’. The issue is prepared by head of Juridical Directorate of the Ministry of Defense Colonel V.Kirilenko in the framework of the project of the Ukrainian branch of the International Union of human rights according to the program TACIS-democracy. The brochure will be certainly useful to many servicemen.

All the publications mentioned became realizable thanks to the premium given by the European Council/USA ‘For democracy and civil society’ that was granted to the Kharkov Group for human rights protection in April 1998, as well as to the sponsors of the Group, democracy supporting funds of the UK and USA.

***

A new book has been published ‘The way to freedom: M.Dragomanov on human rights’. The author is Taras Andrusiak, a lawyer from Lviv, the president of the fund ‘Right for Ukraine’. This profound investigation contains the description of life and activities of an outstanding political and public figure of the second half of the 19^th century in Ukraine, stressing Dragomanov’s human rights protection ideas. Dragomanov’s famous uniting project is first published in the Ukrainian language in Andrusiak’s translation. The author convincingly proves the actuality and significance of Dragomanov’s ideas for today. The book is published with the support of the international fund ‘Vidrodzhennia’.