PRAVA LUDYNY  

 February, 1997

COMMUNIQUES FROM THE CRISIS FRONT

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

No action, talk only

The discussion is lasting in Ukraine about the prospects of their country to become a member of the NATO. Even a poll was organized by the firm SOCIS-GALLUP jointly with 'Democratic initiatives' foundation in December 1996. 15% of the pollees answered 'Yes and as soon as possible', 21% - 'Yes but later', 19% rejected joining to the NATO absolutely, 45 had no definite opinion. The sociologists pointed out that the most supporters of joining the NATO are young or having higher education or those who support the development of private business in Ukraine. The question: 'To what extent do you trust the NATO?' was answered 'Trust completely' by 12%, 'Fifty-fifty' by 28%, 'Do not trust at all' by 19%, 'Difficult to answer' by 41%.

M. Krylov's case: cross-examination of witnesses

G. Sushko, Zaporozhye

The criminal case versus M. Krylov, the Donetsk strike committee leader, is continued in Zaporozhye region court. On January 14 several witnesses from Donetsk were summoned, but no one arrived. Counsellor Sarkisov asked the court to cross-examine the witnesses in Donetsk since they had not got their wages for a long time and could not pay the fair.

On 15 January one witness Leghezin, the head of Gorlovka invalid association, came to the trial. He witnessed that Krylov had not urged him to blockade the railway. It also became clear that during the preliminary investigation inhumane methods were applied to Leghezin: on a hot summer day in 1996 he underwent a nonstop interrogation during nine hours, and all this time he was not given water. Leghezin is an old man and has very ill health.

On 21 January three witnesses were interrogated. All of them are officers of the road police. They said that from 2 to 11 July, 1996, representatives of various mines, as a form of protest against many-month pay arrears, blockaded for several hours each day the strategic parts of the road network. Each picket consisted of 50 - 200 people. The pickets permitted to pass only motor ambulances, militia cars and trucks bringing food to shops. Militia was present ready to stop clashes between miners and drivers.

The witnesses declared that they never saw Krylov among the picketers, but they were sure that the strike committee controlled the pickets. They said that if Krylov had not been there, then the miners' protests could assume others, maybe more acute forms.

Krylov refused to be amnestied, since he did not consider himself guilty. The next meeting of the court will take place on 4 February.

Other news on miners

At the meeting on the situation in the mining industry Pavlo Lazarenko, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, found the work of the mining industry unsatisfactory. He remarked that the debt in wages to miners decreased. By July 1 the debt equaled 618 million grivnas, while nowadays, according to Mr Lazarenko, it reached 440-450 millions, and it is not the government that must pay the debt.

***

The data of the independent trade union of miners stated that by January 10 the debt in wages and other pays to the workers of the mining industry had reached 1, 400 million grivnas. They pointed out that there is a stable tendency of the debt to grow. The Cabinet of Ministers has not used proper measures and, as a result, today 14 mines are on strike and the social tension is growing at mines of Lviv, Dnepropetrovsk, Lugansk and Donetsk regions.

***

Krasnodon regional branch of the independent trade union of miners has begun the preparation to a new strike. The reason is usual: pay arrears of several last months.

Statistics knows all

The total inflation index in 1996 fell down to 139.7%. The costs of food products have grown by 17.4%, industrial consumer goods by 18.8%, services by 112.7%. The greatest raise of costs concerned the passenger transport and funerals. The Ministry of Statistics informed that the inflation index of the consumer market equaled 100.9% in December and 101.2% in November 1996.

State budget deficit in 1996

M. Azarov, the Head of the Parliamentary Commission on Budget, said at the Parliament session about a significant deficit of the income part of the state budget for 1996. He said that the budget income equals 30.1 billion grivnas which is 87.7% of the plan. The planned sum of 4.2 billion was not obtained.

According to M. Azarov the main reason of the deficit mentioned is the decline of GNP by 10%. He added that since the beginning of 1996 the size of pay arrears, including contributions to the pension fund, reached 1391 million.

Basic sources of the income part of the budget-96 were made public. The ACT (Added Cost Tax) yielded 6, 293 million (309 million grivnas less than planned); the income tax brought 5, 490 million (591 million less than planned); excise-duty brought 652 million grivnas. This sum was decreased because of reduction in the production of strong drinks; the rent for oil and gas brought 1, 873 million grivnas (the plan being 2, 642 million).

The expenditure of budget-96 equaled 33.8 billion grivnas (86.5% of the plan). The expenditure outstripped income by 3.6 billion grivnas. The expenditure for the social protection of the population was 4.1 billion (71.2% of the plan); for the social-cultural sphere - 7.7 billion (97%); for science - 0.5 billion; for people's economy - 3 billion; for defence - 1.2 billion; for abolishing the consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe - 7.5 billion; for the pension fund - 7 billion (96.2% of the plan).

The budget gets about 30 - 45 million grivnas daily. On the other hand, M. Azarov pointed out, 'Nowadays in Ukraine about 70% of industrial enterprises do not work due to various reasons'.

Education in 1996 was financed to satisfy 50.1% of the needs

The total financing of education in 1996 equaled 3.7 billion grivnas, that is 50.1% of the needs. In particular, 80% of the needed sum was directed for wages, 70% for stipends. The debt of local budgets before the general education establishments exceeded 400 million grivnas. These data were given by M. Zgurovskiy, the Minister of Education. He also informed that since September 15 educators of 16 regions and of the Crimean Republic used to go on strike, leaving without instruction more than 338 thousand pupils. The most complicated situation is observed in the Crimea and Vinnitsa region, where the salary to teachers was not paid since March. In Lugansk and Rovno regions the last salary was paid in April, in Volyn, Donetsk and Chernivtsy - in May.

The draft of the budget-97 plans the expenditure of 4.1 billion grivnas for education. M. Zgurovskiy expressed the opinion that it would be reasonable to separate the pay: for recompensing the pay arrears and for current expenditures.

The Minister said that in 1996 20% of students of the state higher schools paid for their education. This brought to the budget 60 million grivnas. M. Zgurovskiy said that the structure of higher education in our country is distorted. For example, specialists in natural sciences and engineering made 56%, whereas in the USA their percentage is 17%, in France 19%. He noted that 40% of graduates cannot find jobs according to their speciality. The Minister said that, irrespective of the President's edict and governmental resolutions, the number of nursery schools was reduced by 1, 200. The most of them was liquidated in the Crimea, Donetsk, Lugansk, Odessa and Kyiv regions. At last the Minister pointed out that, of though 30, 000 students graduate as teachers every year, the shortage of teachers in village schools reached 12, 000.

%500 criminal cases about pay arrears

General Procurator's office started more than 500 criminal cases on the facts of pay arrears. The total sum of fines exacted from various organizations to the budget equals 60 million grivnas. G. Vorsinov, the General Procurator, said that in many cases it appeared that the management directed the money intended for payment of salaries to purchasing cars or their private living quarters or for other private needs.

From life of deceased and their families

A. Korystovskaya, Odessa

Recently we have happened to read the list of passengers of the ship 'Taras Shevchenko' that made a foreign cruise planned as an act of charity for the families of militiamen killed in the course of duty. The lists appear puzzling.

Guess, what degree of kinship links killed militiamen with the wife and a daughter of the local newspaper's editor-in-chief? Or a judge of the region court? If not only family members were admitted but also colleagues, then why the Head of the City Directorate of Internal Affairs got the cabin worth of 3, 860 grivnas, compared to plain cops who got a berth in a six-place cabin in the hold for 800 grivnas.

In my professional opinion (and I have been a criminal investigator for 20 years), this present of Odessa to the Ministry of Internal Affairs is mentioned in the Criminal Code of Ukraine, what remains is to find the donors.

Religion vs. science

Chernovtsy region union of Evangelistic Christians turned to the President of Ukraine, to the Supreme Soviet, to the Cabinet of Ministers, to the UNO, to the Council of Europe and to God knows where else, asking to give them the opportunity to emigrate 'to any democratic country in the world'.

The reason of this desperate decision, according to V. Nastas, the Head of the department in charge of religious questions in Chernovtsy region state administration, lies in the refuse to pass to the religious community (counting 330 members) a building which belongs to Chernovtsy center of scientific technical and economic information of the Ministry of Science of Ukraine. The struggle for this building was many times considered by arbitration courts. The building belonged to Evangelical Christians from 1847 to 1941 when it came to the possession of the state. The last arbitration court decision and the approval of this decision by the control collegium of the Supreme Arbitration Court on 20 November 1996 caused the community to turn to extreme measures.

AGRICULTURE

Prospective changes in the Land Code of Ukraine

In the draft of proposed changes to the Land Code it is planned to cancel the moratorium on buying and selling land, on mortgage and similar manipulations. Such changes reflect the position of the Prime Minister and most of the government. This information was made public by L. Novakivskiy, the Head of the State Committee on land resources, at the meeting with representatives of farmers. He said that it is doubtful whether such changes would be adopted by the Parliament. He also said that the limitations on the size of land plots would be imposed in the case of selling land, but not in the case of renting.

According to the UNIAN agency, the data issued by the Ukrainian government on the state by the beginning of 1997 are the following: 35.4 thousand of farms are registered, they exploit 835 thousand ha of agricultural land, i.e. 2% of the total area. On the average one farm has 24 ha. Most farms are distributed in Odessa, Nikolayev, Kherson, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kirovograd, and Zaporozhye regions. Most farms grow agricultural plants (67% of grains, 25% of technical cultures).

By the government data 15.2 thousand ha belonging to farms were not cultivated.

The government will support efficient farms

The Prime Minister P. Lazarenko met with representatives of farmers. 'The government will support those agricultural farms that work efficiently', - he said. He expressed sympathy with the farmers who are worried by the indeterminate situation concerning land. 'The problems are not solved because of objective and subjective reasons', - said he. Among the objective reasons he named undeveloped legislation, among subjective reasons - 'conservatism, unwillingness of district administrations and land departments to actively solve the problems concerning land'. The Prime Minister pointed out that the State Committee on land works insufficiently in this direction.

P. Lazarenko informed the representatives that by February 15 a 'great council on agriculture will be held, where 480 heads of districtal land departments, their region counterparts and representatives of farmers will take part'. At this conference the single tax on land, the changes to the procedure of renting land, the financial support of farmers will be discussed. P. Lazarenko ordered the Ministry of Finances to introduce as a separate point into the state budget-97 the support of farms.

R. Shpek, the Head of the National Agency for reconstruction and development, communicated that in 1997, under guarantees of the government, significant credits are expected from the USA, Germany, France, Poland and Japan. He said that 'practically half' of these credits will be directed to agriculture.

Credits to farmers equaled 2.2 million grivnas in 1996

By the January 1, 1997 the agricultural commercial bank 'Ukraina' gave out only 2.2 million grivnas as credits to farmers. These data were reported by the president of the bank V. Kravets at the meeting of the Prime Minister with representatives of farmers. He said that the total sum is so small because the procedure of paying back is not satisfactory. He added that 'even from this small sum' the dates of paying back expired for 1.3 million grivnas and in the majority of cases the credits were spent otherwise than it was agreed.

V. Kravets expressed the opinion that the law on mortgages must be adopted to improve the situation with crediting farmers. V. Kravets also reported that the total sum of farmers' accounts equals 5 million grivnas, whereas taxes and fines equal 12 million grivnas.

HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION IS NOT A SINECURE

To tell the truth is not always easy and pleasant.

R. Romanov, Sebastopol

The freedom of speech is not very free in Sebastopol. I wrote about this in 'Prava ludyny', No.8, 1996, but since that time several new attempts to restrict the freedom of speech were made. On October 10, 1996 a TV group from Sebastopol TV center went to Admiral Oktiaberskiy street where an attempt was made at the life of V. Semenov, city mayor. But the films which showed the situation in the street directly after the explosion were confiscated by law enforcing bodies.

Next, the cassettes about the consequent round of Ukrainian-Russian governmental negotiations on the division of the Black Sea Navy were confiscated from the newsman of tele radio center 'Briz'. The recording was destroyed and the operator was given a cleansed cassette.

In general, militia struggles with newsmen more successfully that with the organized crime, with the economic crimes, etc.

The mentioned tele radio center 'Briz' is the holder of the sad record of measures inflicted by the authorities. So, on December 18, 1996, the city radio committee, after the 'attentive examination', reduced one of the programs prepared by 'Briz' by 25 minutes and on December 20 abolished it completely. On January 17, 1997, three strangers attacked the 'Briz' studio. They tried to carry away two video recorders and cut some other cables. The newsmen, present in the studio, fought to defend their professional tools. The attackers retreated, inflicting grave injuries to the man on duty. Before the attack the studio received several threats over the telephone. Was it a provocation or an attempt of robbery is not clear.

But one thing is clear. The work of Sebastopol newsmen is not a sinecure.

Another newsman is sacked

G. Sushko, Zaporozhye

Three years and a half journalist Oleg Semko worked in the newspaper 'Zaporizka pravda' ('Truth of Zaporozhye'). Two last years he fought a hopeless struggle with the former communists that dominated the editorial board. As a result, he was sacked one year before the pension.

O. Semko has been working in journalism about 30 years. He always had an inconvenient gift to call a spade a spade. He was not liked by the regional Communist Party committee in the former USSR, so he was fired and for seven years worked as an electrician.

After August 1991 O. Semko returned to journalism, frequently published his articles, but the last two years his articles were usually passed through the editor-in-chief's desk to the waste-paper basket. The master of this desk, I. Tsyganok, did not give any explanations.

The topics raised by O. Semko were not to everybody's taste. For example, in 1993 the son of President's representative bought a building for a fantastically low price, leaving in the open air some workshops including a TV warranty repair one. O. Semko prepared an article, but it was rejected and later published after a lot of coordination negotiations. At the same year O. Semko published three acute articles about the massive theft of state property at Shevchenko plant, about the manipulations with election bulletins, about a dry water pipeline that had not been repaired because the money for the repair where wasted by the district authorities. The latter article went the usual way to the waste-paper basket.

The final round in December 1996 was lost by O. Semko. He was fired with the record in his labour-book: 'For inability in fulfilling professional duties'.

The region union on newsmen did not protest. By the way it is headed by I. Tsyganok.

A typical situation, is'nt it?

LAW ENFORCING

CRITICISM AND SELF-CRITICISM

Ten USS men catch one corrupted official per year

A. Bukalov, Donetsk

Heads of law enforcing bodies reported before the Parliamentary commission for struggle with organized crime and corruption. After the General Procurator, A. Beliaev, the first deputy of the USS head in charge of the directorate for struggle with corruption and organized crime (directorate 'K'), was the second to take the floor.

In 1995-1996 the corresponding units of the USS investigated only 22 criminal cases on breach of trust. It was established that the criminals inflicted the 5.098 million grivnas damage on the state, of which 8 thousand were returned. The struggle with the corruption was not less glorious. During one year that passed after the introduction of the law 'On struggle with corruption' 850 operatives compiled 97 administrative protocols on the corresponding violations of law. In other words, ten operatives found out one criminal of the corrupted kind. And this happened in the country which is notorious by corruption. The similar result is 7.5 times higher even in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The struggle with the organized crime is not less impressive. During two years regional units of the directorate 'K' exposed 291 criminal group of which 195 persons were condemned. On the average the efforts of the USS result in condemning 4 criminals per region per year. The officers of this directorate violated the laws the comparative number of times.

The parliamentary commission found the work of A. Beliaev and the directorate headed by him unsatisfactory.

Editor's note: it is known that the chiefs of the USS have not agreed with the parliamentary commission. Maybe the USS is right and it is not worth while to repress several persons if almost everyone has a finger in the corruption pie?

General Procurator is not going to retire

G. Sushko, Zaporozhye

At the same Parliamentary Commission the report of G. Vorsinov, the General Procurator of Ukraine, was delivered, analyzed and evaluated.

The Parliamentary Commission ruled out the following resolution: the work of the General Procurator Vorsinov and the work of the collegium at General Procurator's office is insatisfactory, non-adequate to the state of crime in Ukraine and disagreeing with the demands of the operating laws and President's edicts about the struggle with corruption and organized crime. The Commission proposed to the Supreme Soviet to listen to a report of the General Procurator at a plenary meeting in February and then to solve whether Mr Vorsinov corresponds to the post of the General Procurator.

G. Omelchenko, the Parliamentary Commission chairman, directed the memorandum about the dismissal of G. Vorsinov to the President. He also proposed to the General Procurator to retire on a pension by his own will. After the report G. Vorsinov said to newsmen that the state of crime in Ukraine does not substantially differ from that in other countries of the CIS and that he does not regard Ukraine as one of the most corrupted countries in the world. He estimated the decision of the Parliamentary Commission as a misunderstanding and pointed out that he is not going to retire. On the contrary, he is eager to work.

Self-criticism

Yu. Kravchenko, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, declared at the press-conference that he cannot estimate as satisfactory the work of his Ministry in 1996. According to the Minister's information, 4, 700 murders were committed in Ukraine in 1996, from which only 15% were disclosed; in particular only 22 hired killings out of 118 were exposed. In the economic sphere more than 63, 000 crimes were committed, about 2, 000 criminal cases were started against state officials. The Minister said that, according to the results of their work, 15 heads of ministry units of different levels had been prepared. 'The current year has to become a year of personal responsibility' - Yu. Kravchenko pointed out.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND PENITENTIARY SYSTEM

In search of nonprison sanctions

L. Goldberg, Drogobych

15-16 January in Kyiv Institute of State and Right the international symposium 'In search of alternatives to imprisonment' was held. This symposium, the first of this type in our country, was organized by 'Freedom House'(USA) which was represented by Mark Berenson, Head of the project 'Law in action', the Ukrainian-American Bureau for human rights protection, the National Institute of Strategic Studies, the International Rehabilitation Center of victims of war and totalitarian regimes. Diplomates from the Netherlands, Great Britain and the USA were present, as well as representatives of Ukrainian organizations. Glenn Miller, the US ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, opened the meeting. He recommended the Ukrainian participants to take account, in reforming their penitentiary system, of the experience of other countries, the USA included, in search of humane and economical methods of nonprison punishment.

Herbert Goelter, director of the National Center of alternative punishments (USA), said that the American experience of the last 15 years with its many negative consequences can show other countries what should not be done. His interesting speech abounded in concrete facts.

The symposium participants did not suggest to ruin prisons, of course. The cases in question concerned those criminals who are not socially dangerous. The discussion was concrete and businesslike. Among the participants were members of the Ukrainian Amnesty International: D. Groysman (Vinnitsa), V. Zherebkin (Kharkov), and the author of this note.

First I must define what are alternative methods of punishment. They concern such criminals as salesmen who deceived customers, clerks who faked documents and the like, i.e. people who are eager, instead of staying in prison, to work and to recompense the damage.

The experience of applying nonprison sanctions confirms their efficiency. What are these sanctions? During the criminal investigation and trial the accused in our country are kept in preliminary prisons or are released on bail. In other countries the methods are more diverse: that can be house arrest, the prohibition to leave some place, the suspension of driver's license, the prohibition on commercial activity, release on bail (on a much wider scale than here). The punishments include fines (again on a much wider scale than in our country), recompensing sanctions (pay for physical injuries or material losses), confiscation of property. As alternatives to imprisonment they apply suspension of rights to occupy some post, to be an expert or a witness in court, the prohibition to indulge in one's professional activity, conditional release, taking the oath for law-obedient behavior.

Much was said at the symposium about the probation system widely used in the West, especially in Great Britain. The punishment is conditional, and the guilty remains in the society, but under certain restrictions such as periodical meetings with the officer in charge and with taking part in certain activities.

What are reasons of introducing alternative measures of punishment. One of the main reasons is that upkeep of a convict is rather expensive. O. Betsa, Head of a Chair at Kyiv Institute of Internal Affairs, said in his report that nowadays there are 220, 000 convicts in Ukraine, among them 50, 000 are imprisoned for comparatively harmless crimes. By the number of convicts per capita there are only two countries before us: the USA and Russia. We have a lot of problems in our penitentiary system: a lot of TB, 1, 500 AIDS infected; after the prison former convicts cannot get a propiska (residence permit) and cannot find a job. The life conditions in penitentiary establishments are terrific. The statistics shows that the probability to commit repetitive crimes for those, who did not commit grave and socially dangerous crimes, is independent of imprisonment.

The report 'The court reform in Ukraine and its legal base' of V. Kostitskiy, a corresponding member of the Academy of Right, Head of the corresponding subcommission of the Parliament, pointed out that reforming of the entire penitentiary system is ordered by the Constitution (Art.28, P.2). The system to come must not be punitive but must be a link in the system of social policy.

As a whole, the symposium was thought, by its organizers and participants, to be successful.

Help me to find justice

M. Kashuk, Kharkov

On April 6, 1989 the Kiev city court condemned me to ten years of imprisonment. It was the revenge for my complaint to the district procurator about injuries inflicted on me by militiamen which was at the time a harsh violation of socialist right. However, the law enforcing bodies considered it as encroachment on infallibility of Soviet militia. The criminal case against me was cooked by the prosecutor's office and court under the leadership of the Supreme Court and procurator of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. The factual base of the case was as following: to protect my life from a drunken criminal armed with a knife I was made to use a shotgun, since, being old and of ill health, I had no alternative. I fired a preventive shot at the near wall and some particles of brick scratched the attacker's face. Then followed the interrogation at a precinct, bestial beating, my complaint and, as a reaction to it, my trial and ten-year verdict.

During the years of my incarceration in prisons and concentration camps I wrote to all instances whose sacred duty is to protect citizens. But all my complaints smashed against the wall of indifference. In the Soviet times and now the representatives of the penitentiary system act in the same manner. A verdict of ten years of incarceration for me, a 55-year invalid of the third group (at the time of the trial) meant the same as the death penalty.

I tried to commit suicide, but instead of the desired death I got additional psychic and physical traumas and has become an invalid of the second group. The new Ukrainian Constitution has not helped me. I am turning to human rights protectors. You are my last hope.

Our comment (G. Maryanovsky): The main pest of our penitentiary system is ignoring human rights, hence frequent cruel and unjust verdicts. The repressive direction of the system is clear to all, including the functionaries. On every level the corresponding laws and the practice of their application are criticized, from time to time codes are changed, but nothing changes in reality. It is practically impossible to prove the fact of hard treatment by militiamen, because a special medical investigation is required, and for the latter one must have a direction from the same law enforcing bodies or procurator, it is practically impossible to change the verdict of first-instance courts (the appeal courts are planned, but when will they appear?), and the overwhelming majority of the condemned complain against unjust verdicts that are often rendered without cross-examinations of the witnesses of defence, with weak arguments or, what is absolutely inadmissible, because the accused pleaded guilty.

We shall not describe again the case of M. P. Kashuk, since our bulletin wrote about it. We also turned to higher instances but got inconcrete formal answers. In February we shall again ask to mercy M. P. Kashuk. And will hope for the best.

The final comment: lately M. P. Kashuk has died in the second Kharkov city hospital, to where he was transported from the colony.

On disciplinary battalions

The plenum of the Supreme Court of Ukraine adopted a resolution 'On the procedure of applying the punishment of directing to the disciplinary battalion'. The resolution attracts the attention of military judges to the stern obedience of law in the legal practice of applying this kind of punishment. It is pointed out that this punishment can serve as an efficient tool of reforming servicemen if the punishment is applied exactly in accordance with the law.

Mikola Dryga, deputy head of the military collegium of the Supreme Court, informed that in 1996 garrison martial courts applied this punishment to 1, 418 servicemen (for 41% of the total number of the condemned). He said that there are aspects not yet regulated precisely by operating laws. There were cases when this measure was applied to the people whose misbehavior was too small and, on the contrary, some servicemen were given prolonged terms of prison when it would be fairer to send them to the disciplinary battalion.

One 'killing' article out of five works

G. Vorsinov, the General Procurator of Ukraine, informed newsmen that 4.5 thousand premeditated murders were committed in Ukraine in 1996, but only 'an insignificant percentage of the murderers' were condemned to death. The General Procurator refused to give the exact number of the executed in 1996 (but on some other occasion the Ministry of Justice informed that 167 people were executed in Ukraine last year). G. Vorsinov pointed out that today out of five articles of the Criminal Code that require the death penalty 'in fact works only one', for the premeditated murder under aggravating circumstances. For the umpteenth time the Procurator declared that he is 'not against' prohibiting the capital punishment or decreeing the moratorium on executions, but when 'the society is ready'. He doubted that Ukraine would prohibit the death penalty in three years, which has been Ukraine's obligation given to the Council of Europe. The Procurator also explained that if the moratorium is decreed, Ukraine will have the problem of building special prisons for those who get the life sentence. It would require the lot of money.

Has crime reduced?

L. Borodych, the first deputy of the Minister of Internal Affairs, gave at the briefing some optimistic data: the crime has reduced in 1996, as compared to the previous year. The total number of crimes has decreased by 3.8% (617 thousand). A tendency can be observed of diminishing heinous crimes such as grave body injuries, rapes and robberies. L. Borodych also said that during the year 953 gangs were disclosed, among them 95 active armed gangs; all in all 397 thousand of crimes were disclosed, which is 14 thousand more than in 1995. The percentage of disclosed crimes now has reached 62.8%.

At the same time the speaker expressed anxiety because of the growth of crime in six regions of Ukraine; the most unsafe places in Ukraine are Odessa, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk regions and the city of Kiev. In these regions the crime level has grown by 25%. Recently, the speaker said, the criminality of minors and foreign citizens has grown too. However, only 37% of the promised financing has been given to the Ministry this year. The Ministry will have to reduce its personnel by 100 thousand people.

28 months of incarceration, expecting the verdict

S. Karasik, Kharkov

Kharkov region court continues the trial of businessman G. Romanov. He is accused according to seven articles of the Criminal Code including the violation of rules of hard currency operations, misuse of his post and forgery. The accused did not plead guilty in any of the crimes. The newspaper 'Biznes-Kharkov' No.47 of 12.18.96 published the interview of Romanov's advocate V. Vechorka. The latter finds the accusations rather shaky. He presumes that if the business in Ukraine had been done by such people as Romanov, our country would have blossomed. V. Vechorka is sure that the time will come when Ukraine will be proud of Romanov.

Such outstanding figures as E. Ryazanov, V. Bukovskiy, K. Lubarskiy, I. Ratushinskaya, I. Gerashchenko tried to protect the businessman, Ukrainian and foreign press more than once published materials about this case.

G. Romanov was incarcerated on 10.15.94 and is still kept in the preliminary prison, which exceeds the maximum permitted term of eighteen months. By a sanction of the General Procurator's office the term can be prolonged by three months after 18 months, but even the prolonged term expired on April 12, 1996. The case was passed to the court only in September.

Twice (11.3.94 and 12.28.94) the district court found the detention and arrest of Romanov to be illegal and ill-grounded. The both times these rulings were protested by the Procurator's office.

By now Romanov has been imprisoned for 28 months. He went on hunger strike and kept it 140 days. All these days he was held in the lock-up cell and was artificially fed. During his imprisonment Romanov suffered an microinsult, got scab and lice. He refuses to take part in the court sessions and again is placed to the lock-up cell.

Kharkiv Human Right Protecting Group sent a letter to region procurator P. Karkach, asking him to conduct the necessary investigation of the violation of operating laws.

ON ETHNIC MINORITIES

Sanctions to Russian speakers

The National Council for television and radio broadcasting and the Ministry of Information intend to apply 'the corresponding sanctions' up to revoking licenses of those TV and radio studios that will not pass to the Ukrainian-language regime by the end of 1997. This was promised in the 'recommendation letter' adopted at the 'round-table meeting' of heads of the above-mentioned state bodies jointly with the society 'Prosvita' ('Education'). The meeting entrusted the Ministry of Information and the National Council for television and radio broadcasting to support those TV and radio studies that strictly obey the demands of Article 10 of the Constitution.

Problems of the deportees

The main problem of those who were deported from the Crimea and now want to return to their native land is how to obtain the citizenship of Ukraine. This answer gave 430 out of 440 pollees to the questionaire distributed by the fund 'Sodeystviye' ('Assistance'). 'The fact that many representatives of the deported people are not Ukrainian citizens not only deprives them of political rights, but also of elementary social and economic guaranties', - said the fund's director V. Zubarev, the Head of the Crimean College of Barristers.

MEDICAID

A lunatic asylum within a madhouse

E. Grinberg, Dnepropetrovsk

When there are so many violations of human rights and freedoms of healthy people, who will pay attention to what is going on in a lunatic asylum? However, many patients are kept there for years left by their relatives and friends, without any material aid and support from outside. The bleak economic situation tragically tells on the situation of patients who are kept like convicts. Three times a day they are given boiled water and transparent soup. Potatoes, sugar, tea, bread, to say nothing of proteins, have long become delicatessen. Nothing can be done about warm and bed clothes - no money is given for these over-indulgencies from the budget. In spite of the cold, the lunatic asylum have become the paradise for lice - no finances for soap.

It has become a sort of a tradition in many hospitals of the city that medicine is bought by relatives, but not many psychiatric patients have caring relatives.

The medical personnel gets no salaries for several months.

One can easily imagine why there are fights between the patients and why they are maltreated by the personnel. Some patients (alcoholics, drug addicts) steal from the most helpless. The personnel reacts by depriving the smartest of food or by tying them to beds (with strings, not chains as it had been done in previous century - nobody can stop the progress).

It is easy to declare that the rights of the mental patients should be protected. It is much more difficult to organize humanitarian aid from the West and from the local sponsors. And if the aid ever comes, its distribution must be strictly controlled by independent nonprofit organizations: human right protectors, representatives of the church and so on, since otherwise the patients could get nothing, even medicine could be stolen and sold at the black market.

Are we a civilized country?

Medicine stall. Dangerous for life

S. Kamynina, Kharkov

You have stopped before a drug kiosk or a medicine stall. Do not hurry to produce the purse! On 02.10.92 a resolution of the Kharkov region administration (No.61) was taken which prohibited any trade of medicinal preparations outside drugstores. This resolution was never cancelled, but nowadays the stalls and kiosks selling medicine are scattered everywhere. Only downtown there 7 state drugstores, 52 private drugstores, 63 kiosks and stalls. All in all there are 700 such stalls in the region, and a part of them has not been registered and never passed any control. People selling medicine play hide-and-seek: change the place, change the name of the firm and the like.

But all these are flowers, we eat the berries. In 1996 the inspection prohibited selling of 132 kinds of medicine out of what they checked. Medical drugs can loose their curing properties and even can become toxic because of incorrect storage. Often one day will be enough in a kiosk where in winter the temperature can reach -10 C and in summer +40 C. Direct solar rays, high humidity, almost complete absence (95%) of refrigerators. Such conditions especially affect ampules and suspensions that loose their properties much before the expiration date. The drugs are sold even in the paid water closet at the central market.

L. Bondareva, the head of the state inspection for control of medical preparations, says that the most dangerous aspect of this wild sales that private salesmen give over the counter everything, including very dangerous medications without a prescription. There were several cases when narcotic drugs were on the free sale!

Medicinal drugs must be handed by a specialist. And a 'wild' pharmacist can give a preparation from high blood pressure when a customer asked him for something to facilitate headache.

And - last but not least - what can do the state inspection? It can 'freeze' the insatisfactory meication and inform the capital on the necessity to confiscate the shipment. Only Kyivan authorities can revoke the license. The question of fines is also being resolved in Kyiv. So, not much can be done nowadays on the local level.

Therapist or the rapist?

T. Zarovnaia, Donetsk

The famous hypnotist Kashpirovskiy started a libel suit in Donetsk region court against the newspaper 'Tiurma i volia' ('Prison and freedom') for the article 'New Rasputin appeared before the suggestible people'.

But for the start we shall give the floor to the too suggestible.

From a letter by N. Morshneva:

'... Many women were sexually aroused by Kashpirovskiy seances. They felt abnormal attraction to him, and many, as a result, got to madhouses, many turned to him personally asking to help. But instead of this Kashpirovskiy made love to them. This happened in Mariupol, this happened with one doctor M. L. K. from Kyiv who tried to prosecute him, but the procurator's office stopped the proceedings... Svetlana F. from Kyiv - by age she could be his daughter - had a son from him.

I was given his address and handed him my letter. I hoped he would help me as a doctor, but he raped me. After it Kashpirovskiy said to me: 'Hold your tongue or I shall tear it away. Come to my office, I shall help you'. There he raped me again.'

From a conversation with a woman-psychiatrist M. L. K. from Kyiv, a sister-victim of N. Morshneva:

'... I know a case when an old woman, who had forgotten what is sex is, became quite ecstatic. She felt that she had intercourse with him and he could not help her afterwards. You see, he cannot liquidate the consequences of his influence'.

From the complaint of Svetlana F. to the Procurator's office of Kyiv:

'I inform you that on October 20, 1991, I gave birth to a son Aleksey Anatolyevich whose father is Kashpirovskiy Anatoliy Mikhaylovich ('Anatolyevich' is a patronymics, i.e. the middle name referring to the first name of the father, - translator's note), who, using his glory and capability to influence people's mind, seduced me... He refused to render me any assistance, saying that I cannot prove that my son is his. I insist on conducting the official procedure of proving that Kashpirovskiy fathered my son ...'

The editorial board of 'Prava ludyny' has many documents of this kind.

***

From Kashpirovskiy's application relative to the article 'New Rasputin appeared before the suggestible people':

'... The publication of this article in mass media has inflicted a great damage to my reputation as a psychotherapist, moreover, I have suffered a mental trauma and a moral damage because you doubted my professional achievements... Besides, you have sown doubts in many citizens who read your article.

... I demand:

to rule the editorial board of the newspaper 'Tiurma i volia' to publish the refutation of the article;

to recompense the moral damage in the sum of 337, 500, 000, 000 krb.; the sum is counted as follows: the minimal fine for the moral damage, according to the law, equals 7, 500, 000 krb times the run of the newspaper (15, 000 copies) times 3 since the article was published in 3 consecutive numbers ...'

In the article published in the newspaper 'Tiurma i volia' a serious question has been treated. Kashpirovskiy's seances over TV, in great halls or at stadiums concerned plenty of people, and among them just by the law of great numbers there must be mentally unhinged, hysterical or extremely suggestible people, whose reaction to hypnotic influence cannot be forecast or controlled. Such people can suffer a greater mental trauma than that mentioned by Kashpirovskiy in his application. The danger is more probable because Kashpirovskiy is only one of many white magicians, healers, wizards and the like who operate in the country. Doctor Kashpirovskiy must remember the main principle of a physician: 'never inflict harm'.

There is another, more comic or more practical side of the question: does Doctor Kashpirovskiy really believe that a newspaper of such kind can have one percent of the required sum?

* * *

All the materials, where the author is not indicated, are taken from the UNIAN Agency.

CLIPPINGS FROM NEWSPAPERS

This bloody coal

According to the data available in August 1996 every million tonnes of coal in Ukraine was worth five miners' lives. It is more than in Poland, Turkey and even Russia. Despite the reduction of the staff by 115 thousand miners last year, the number of deaths in 1996 remained on the same level. The Ukrainian mines are so obsolete that anyone who got down there has a considerable chance not to get up. In 136 out of 187 mines in the Central Donbass the coal is broken by pneumatic chippers; 12 thousand miners are registered as having lung pathology; the average lifetime in Donetsk and Lugansk regions equals 50 years.

Recently there happened the following fatal accidents:

- 7 February 1997, 'Karl Marx' mine, as a result of falling ice on the open cage full of people, five men were killed and five injured, two of them very gravely;

- 8 February 1997, 'Moskovskaya' mine, as a result of bursting of methane, three men were burned, one of them gravely;

- 9 February 1997, 'Ilovayskaya' mine, one miner died as a result of a trauma;

- 9 February 1997, Donetsk, 'Skochinskiy' mine, one man died as a result of caving;

- 10 February 1997, 'Zmeyevskaya' mine, a miner was killed by electric current;

- 11 February 1997, 'Lenin' mine, two miners were covered with coal in the accumulating bin.

'Region', No.6, 15 February 1997

Private farming

According to the data published by the government of Ukraine, by January 1, 1997, 35.4 thousand of private farms are registered; totally they cover 835 thousand ha, i.e. 2% of the total area in the country. The average farm occupies 24 ha. The most farms are situated in Nikolayev, Odessa, Kherson, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kirovograd and Zaporozhye regions. Most of the farms grow plant (grain - 67%, technical cultures - 25%). 15.2 thousand ha of tilled soil belonging to farms were not cultivated in 1996.

'UNIAN-Novyny', No.15-3, 20 January 1997

Situation in machine-building industry

Shipbuilding, radio electronics, automobile building and building of special machines experienced the maximal fall of production in 1996. At the meeting in the Ministry Minister Malev informed that 155 enterprises out of 638 lowered the production by more than 50%. On the other hand 127 enterprises kept the last year level or exceeded it. One enterprise out of twelve could not sell even 50% out of what they produced. According to the Minister, this is a result of 'the low purchasing ability of customers and the continuing growth of costs of the produced machines'. The latter is partly explained by the growth of costs for electricity (27.7%), heating (90%) and metal (10.9%).

The total income owing to purchase of the product equaled 386 million grivnas in 1996, the rentability of the sold products equaled 7.2% (22.2% in 1995).

'UNIAN-Novyny', No.15-5, 20 January 1997

The Parliament adopted conception of national security of Ukraine

The Supreme Soviet of Ukraine adopted the final version of the conception of the national security of Ukraine (259 voted for and one against the conception, out of 344).

Oleg Chornousenko, Deputy Head of the Commission on defence and state security, pointed out that the conception ensures 'a democratic civilized oversight of the military'. He said that the threats to the national security can exist in political, economic and military spheres. The political threats consist in the attempts to violate the constitutional order and state sovereignty of Ukraine, meddling into her internal affairs by other states or political forces, separatist tendencies in some regions, violation of the principle of power separation. The threats in the economic sphere consist in the dependence of the national economy on other countries, the criminalization of society, the activity of shady structures. The threats in the military sphere consist in the military and political instability, in conflicts in neighboring countries, in lowering the level of the armed forces of Ukraine, in politization of enforcing structures, in existing illegal paramilitary units.

'UNIAN-Novyny', No.12-3, 16 January 1997

Rights of Ukrainians are infringed in Kharkov

Nationalists from Kharkov picketed the regional executive Committee on March 11. They represented the regional department of the Ukraine Nationalistic Congress. The picketers voiced the opinion that in Kharkov, as well in the entire country, the rights of Ukrainians are infringed, especially in the sphere of education. They required special measures for the development of the state language. People passing the pickets were of the contrary opinion. By the way, most picketers spoke in Russian, which testifies that they themselves have not made the final choice. The authorities are also not very sure how to make the people, three-quarters of which spoke Russian for three generations, speak Ukrainian.

G. Miliukha, the Head of the Regional Commission of education and culture, expressed the opinion that such policy will lead to the contrary result.

Leftish parties also protested; naturally their opinions were contrary to those of the nationalists. They distributed the appeal which affirms the falsehood of the city procurator S. Slavskiy's arguments for the cancellation of the resolution of the city executive Committee on the usage of Russian (beside Ukrainian) in the official documents.

Three leftish parties: Citizens Congress, Social Party and Slavic Unity Party appealed to P. Karkach, the regional procurator, to take up measures against his city opposite number.

'Pervaya stolitsa', No.5, 13 March 1997

The epidemic situation is becoming worse

On March 11 a conference of heads of sanitary-epidemic services of East Ukraine was held. The chief sanitary doctor of Ukraine L. Nekrasova took part in the conference. Budget cuts for sanitary service resulted in the exodus of physicians from the service, whereas the epidemic situation continued to deteriorate. The present level of the distribution of hepatitis, TB and AIDS can be regarded as epidemic. The conference discussed the strategies of the survival of the service and of the people.

'Pervaya stolitsa', No.5, 13 March 1997

Troubles of the Crimean Tartars

On January 13 the collection of signatures was started under the appeal 'On deprivation of rights of Crimean Tartars and ignoring people's lawful interests'. This appeal will be addressed to President Leonid Kuchma, to MPs and to the UNO Supreme Commissar on human rights.

About a quarter of million of Crimean Tartars have returned to the land of their forefathers. Out of this number more than 100 thousand people have no living accommodation, scores of thousands are jobless. There is no legal acts in Ukraine that would fairly solve political and legalistic questions connected with returning and settling Crimean Tartars. The latter demand creating such conditions which will ensure factual, not a declarative equality in all spheres of life. The authors of the appeal demand to adopt the law 'On the status of Crimean Tartars in Ukraine' and to introduce into the Constitution the norms that would guarantee the proportional representation of Crimean Tartars in the Parliament of Ukraine and all state offices in the Crimea. Besides, they demand to consider Medgelis as the only plenipotentiary and representative body of the Crimean Tartar people, to create the state project of returning and settling Tartars in the Crimea by the year of 2000 and to create a mechanism of actual recompensing of material and moral damage inflicted as a result of the deportation, to restore the old geographic names in the Crimea and to single out a quota in foreign credits and investments for the use of the returning Crimean Tartars. At the present about 70, 000 Crimean Tartars have not got the Ukrainian citizenship yet.

'Vseukrainskiye vedomosti', No.5, January 1997

***

Crimean mass media published an appeal of four Crimean MPs who were elected in national boroughs: A. Danelyan (Armenian), G. Karazhov (Bulgarian), M. Samulidi (Greek) and V. Renpening (German). The document appeals for equal rights among all peoples in the Crimea. The representatives of the four peoples expressed anxiety that the program of returning and settling the deported people is governed by the representatives of the Crimean Tartars, and the problem of settling is focused on the problems of the Crimean Tartars, the fact that stands in the way of 'restoring the historical justice with respect to other deported peoples'. For example, the Vice Prime Minister of the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea I. Umerov ordered to liquidate inside the State Committee on deported peoples the departments that were in charge of Armenians, Bulgarians, Greeks and Germans. The authors of the appeal are displeased that local committees on the national policy are governed 'by Crimean Tartars only', such as R. Chubarov, the Deputy Head of the Crimean Parliament, L. Arifov, the Head of the Parliamentary control commission on deported citizens, O. Adamanov, the Head of State Committee on national questions and I. Umerov, the Vice Prime Minister. According to the authors of the appeal, districtal departments on national minorities by 99% consist of Crimean Tartars.

'Now the question is raised about the native Crimean Tartar people', states the appeal. Its authors are afraid that after solving this problem they will become 'second-rate citizens'. Historically the peninsula, as a cradle of civilization, was always populated by many peoples and all of them must be considered equally native. During the deportation they all suffered equally from the moral and physical damage, and all such peoples, in spite of their numbers, must have equal rights.

'Ukraina moloda', 26 December 1996