The Ukrainian Security Service [SBU] has found that the allegations of danger in one of the cases cited by five members of the Constitutional Court at a press conference last week were justified.

Given the rapid flow of information, some conflicting, some almost immediately refuted, it has seemed misleading to merely present readers with this or that report on the Constitutional Court and its likely role in determining whether or not the President’s Decree of 2 April 2007 was constitutional. The following is a brief summary of key events and statements over the last week

In flagrant violation of the right of peaceful assembly enshrined in its own constitution, as well as in international conventions to which Russia is a signatory, the Russian authorities continue to stamp down on any opposition to the present regime

The author states that given the number of conflicting arguments regarding this Decree, and the undoubted fact that only the Constitutional Court may judge whether or not it complies with the Constitution, a purely formal analysis can be helpful in predicting the likely issues which the Court will consider

As feared, riot squads [OMON] used force to detain dozens of opposition activists in Moscow on Saturday 14 April, including the former world chess champion and leader of the United Civic Front Garry Kasparov.

Over the first three months of 2007 the death rate was 250-300% higher than the rate of births in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Donetsk, Luhansk and Kirovohrad regions.

As the Co-Chair of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group Yevhen Zakharov explains, he has received official confirmation from the Head of the Chyhyryn District Administration that at the beginning of April students from a local school were taken to Kyiv to take part in a political rally in support of the coalition. Each child was also promised 40 UH.

As the Co-Chair of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group Yevhen Zakharov explains, he has received official confirmation from the Head of the Chyhyryn District Administration that at the beginning of April students from a local school were taken to Kyiv to take part in a political rally in support of the coalition. Each child was also promised 40 UH.

As the Co-Chair of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group Yevhen Zakharov explains, he has received official confirmation from the Head of the Chyhyryn District Administration that at the beginning of April students from a local school were taken to Kyiv to take part in a political rally in support of the coalition. Each child was also promised 40 UH.

In any democratic country such a march is a normal event. However the Russian State has over recent years been moving further and further away from the principles of democracy and has become ever more cynical in disregarding the rights and freedoms of its citizens. In today’s Russia opposition marches are banned and violently dispersed.

The author discusses the various arguments given in the Presidential Decree for the dissolution of parliament. He also gives a piercing assessment of the degree to which the constitutional amendments of 2004 are to blame for many of Ukraine’s ills and why these need to be reviewed as a matter of priority

Open letter to the the Human Rights Ombudsperson Nina Karpachova calling on her to investigate incidents where children were apparently taken by members of the Party of the Regions from school to Kyiv for political rallies

Open letter to the the Human Rights Ombudsperson Nina Karpachova calling on her to investigate incidents where children were apparently taken by members of the Party of the Regions from school to Kyiv for political rallies

Open letter to the the Human Rights Ombudsperson Nina Karpachova calling on her to investigate incidents where children were apparently taken by members of the Party of the Regions from school to Kyiv for political rallies

A cheering sign that courts in Ukraine are taking European Court of Human Rights case-law into consideration and refusing to allow defamation suits based on value judgments. Less cheering is the behaviour of the district council which has succeeded in preventing the newspaper involved from functioning.

A particularly distasteful element in any political crisis is the deliberate use of certain members of society for political gain. Worst of all is when this involves children

A particularly distasteful element in any political crisis is the deliberate use of certain members of society for political gain. Worst of all is when this involves children

A particularly distasteful element in any political crisis is the deliberate use of certain members of society for political gain. Worst of all is when this involves children

It is most often editors who “stifle” journalists. The removal and “castration” of material not to their taste, the demands by officials to see the texts and “make corrections”, the refusal to publish them are all elements of present day life

The Belarusian opposition has prepared a “Small Constitution” – a Draft of constitutional reforms which it plans to send to the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission for its assessment