Amnesty International report criticizes Ukraine's rights record

LONDON - Human rights watchdog Amnesty International recently released its Report 2002 on the state of human rights around the world during the 2001 calendar year. It criticizes Ukraine for its human rights record in five areas: torture and ill-treatment, the armed forces, prison conditions, the disappearance of Heorhii Gongadze and freedom of expression.

According to the report, the Ukrainian Parliament passed laws to reform the judicial and legal systems in June and July of 2001, including the Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure, in order to bring Ukraine into line with Council of Europe standards.

Despite the new laws, reports of torture and ill-treatment by Ukrainian police continued. In addition, arrested suspects were often denied access to a lawyer, and the police sometimes refused to allow family members to be informed of the arrest. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination complained of police brutality, arbitrary arrest and illegal detention. The U.N. Human Rights Committee and the U.N. Committee against Torture reported on the continued problem of torture in Ukraine.

In the armed forces, the U.N. Human Rights Committee and the U.N. Committee against Torture both cited the severe hazing of young recruits.

Prisons, according to Amnesty International, are overcrowded and lack proper heating and ventilation. Additionally, prisoners are not provided adequate food and medical care.

Report 2002 also notes that several international bodies had doubts about the speed and impartiality of the investigation into the disappearance of slain journalist Heorhii Gongadze.

The report also expresses concern about freedom of the press in Ukraine. Journalists working for both newspapers and television companies frequently reported governmental coercion. The report mentions the murder of Ihor Alexandrov, head of the TOR television station, who was bludgeoned to death shortly after reporting on governmental corruption.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 30, 2002, No. 26, Vol. LXX

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