Democracy Watch, 2011 - Issue 1
by: Viktor Tkachuk
Historical quote of the week:
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." – Cicero, 55 BC
People First Comment: How little has changed…
Democracy Watch – Editor’s Report on 2010.
Democracy Watch (DW) has become a real success story with leading international politicians and journalists commenting that every country should have one. 19 issues were published weekly in 2010. Such has been the uptake that at a recent conference on Ukraine in London in November copies were specifically printed for the delegates however almost every delegate already had the current issue even though few were then on the mailing list.
Clearly DW has struck a chord with the Ukrainian public, Ukrainian politicians and civil servants and international Ukraine watchers and is now seen as a reliable non-political overview of the reality of Ukraine today. DW will be expanded in 2011 to include input and comment from other democracy organisations.
Our monitoring research indicates that in 2010 the People First Foundation had 1,108 pages of information on Ukraine published on 983 websites around the world, in 8 languages and had 28 articles published in the national and international media. Assuming a readership of only 5% of this material our total monthly audience is estimated at 2.9 million readers per month, with almost a million readers living in Ukraine.
People First Foundation would like to thank the editors of all the newspapers and websites that have reprinted our articles and publications and especially to thank ‘Kyiv Post’ for their support in reprinting all 19 issues. We would also like to thank all our readers who have passed DW on to their friends and colleagues for their personal contribution to democracy in Ukraine.
Political persecution spreads in Ukraine.
In coming to power the new President has given rise to political persecution in Ukraine. According to the Prosecutor General, 8 ministers and vice-ministers from the government of Yulia Tymoshenko have been arrested on suspicion of damaging the national interest to the tune of US$2.5 billion. The former prime-minister herself is subject to repeated questionings at the Prosecutor-General's office. However, representatives of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Presidential Administration claim that the government has begun a serious battle against corruption involving both former and current government officials and it should not be perceived as political repression. As yet they have failed to provide evidence of their impartiality.
In response, both the USA and the EU have demonstrated increasing concern over political pressure and persecution in Ukraine. In particular, Thomas O. Melia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, recently said that the selective administration of justice should be recognised as unacceptable by any democratic society. The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America deplored the actions of the Ukrainian government directly. The members of the Committee illustrated concerns that the authorities arrest political opponents and suppress journalists through fear thereby restricting civil liberties and the right of assembly, further blemishing the national identity of the Ukrainian people.
Not long ago the Czech Republic granted political asylum to Bordan Danilishyn – former minister of economy in Ukraine. This should constitute a major wake-up call for Kyiv as Brussels obviously holds a strong negative attitude towards political pressure of the current regime on the opposition.
In Ukraine, Danilishyn was accused of causing a national loss totalling 2 million Hryvna. President Yanukovych has received a clear political signal from USA and the EU, stating that further practice of political persecution is unacceptable.
People First Comment: The government may claim that the current clamp down is a bid to combat corruption but in reality it is nothing more than selective pressure on political opponents. Corruption is endemic to the whole governmental and financial system of the nation but the scale is now truly frightening.
by: Viktor Tkachuk
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Historical quote of the week:
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." – Cicero, 55 BC
People First Comment: How little has changed…
Democracy Watch – Editor’s Report on 2010.
Democracy Watch (DW) has become a real success story with leading international politicians and journalists commenting that every country should have one. 19 issues were published weekly in 2010. Such has been the uptake that at a recent conference on Ukraine in London in November copies were specifically printed for the delegates however almost every delegate already had the current issue even though few were then on the mailing list.
Clearly DW has struck a chord with the Ukrainian public, Ukrainian politicians and civil servants and international Ukraine watchers and is now seen as a reliable non-political overview of the reality of Ukraine today. DW will be expanded in 2011 to include input and comment from other democracy organisations.
Our monitoring research indicates that in 2010 the People First Foundation had 1,108 pages of information on Ukraine published on 983 websites around the world, in 8 languages and had 28 articles published in the national and international media. Assuming a readership of only 5% of this material our total monthly audience is estimated at 2.9 million readers per month, with almost a million readers living in Ukraine.
People First Foundation would like to thank the editors of all the newspapers and websites that have reprinted our articles and publications and especially to thank ‘Kyiv Post’ for their support in reprinting all 19 issues. We would also like to thank all our readers who have passed DW on to their friends and colleagues for their personal contribution to democracy in Ukraine.
Political persecution spreads in Ukraine.
In coming to power the new President has given rise to political persecution in Ukraine. According to the Prosecutor General, 8 ministers and vice-ministers from the government of Yulia Tymoshenko have been arrested on suspicion of damaging the national interest to the tune of US$2.5 billion. The former prime-minister herself is subject to repeated questionings at the Prosecutor-General's office. However, representatives of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Presidential Administration claim that the government has begun a serious battle against corruption involving both former and current government officials and it should not be perceived as political repression. As yet they have failed to provide evidence of their impartiality.
In response, both the USA and the EU have demonstrated increasing concern over political pressure and persecution in Ukraine. In particular, Thomas O. Melia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, recently said that the selective administration of justice should be recognised as unacceptable by any democratic society. The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America deplored the actions of the Ukrainian government directly. The members of the Committee illustrated concerns that the authorities arrest political opponents and suppress journalists through fear thereby restricting civil liberties and the right of assembly, further blemishing the national identity of the Ukrainian people.
Not long ago the Czech Republic granted political asylum to Bordan Danilishyn – former minister of economy in Ukraine. This should constitute a major wake-up call for Kyiv as Brussels obviously holds a strong negative attitude towards political pressure of the current regime on the opposition.
In Ukraine, Danilishyn was accused of causing a national loss totalling 2 million Hryvna. President Yanukovych has received a clear political signal from USA and the EU, stating that further practice of political persecution is unacceptable.
People First Comment: The government may claim that the current clamp down is a bid to combat corruption but in reality it is nothing more than selective pressure on political opponents. Corruption is endemic to the whole governmental and financial system of the nation but the scale is now truly frightening.
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