U.S. on women political prisoners
WASHINGTON – The United States has launched a campaign to highlight cases of women who Washington says have been “unjustly imprisoned” by governments around the world. Under the initiative announced September 1 by Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the U.S. State Department will profile 20 cases of women deemed by the United States to be “political prisoners” or “prisoners of concern.” The campaign will profile Ukrainian military pilot and Parliament member Nadiya Savchenko, jailed in Russia on charges of participating in the murder of Russian journalists covering the Ukraine conflict, as well as Leyla Yunus and Khadija Ismayilova, critics of the Azerbaijani government imprisoned on charges widely considered to be politically motivated. Others include Uzbek rights activist Matluba Kamilova, who Human Rights Watch says has been imprisoned for exercising free speech, and Iranian student activist Bahareh Hedayat, who was jailed amid a 2009 crackdown after street protests over a contentious presidential election. “In naming these women, we are sending a message to their governments and others like them: If you want to empower women, don’t imprison them on the basis of their views or on the basis of the rights that they’re fighting for,” Ambassador Power told reporters in Washington. “Free these 20 women and free the countless women and girls like them behind bars,” Power added. The State Department has dubbed the initiative the #FreeThe20 campaign. It will profile one case per day in the run-up to the 20th anniversary this month of a United Nations initiative to empower women “in all spheres of public and private life.” The campaign kicked off by highlighting the case of Chinese rights lawyer Wang Yu, who was detained by Chinese police in July in a sweeping crackdown on lawyers and civic activists. (RFE/RL, with reporting by the Associated Press)
White House criticizes ‘separatist’ plans
WASHINGTON – U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden is criticizing pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine for threatening to take more territory and hold their own elections. Mr. Biden spoke to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko by phone on August 28. The White House said the vice-president offered U.S. support for constitutional amendments Mr. Poroshenko has proposed to decentralize power and hold local elections while maintaining a unitary federal government in Kyiv. Mr. Biden “welcomed news of an agreement among several pro-reform political forces to run a common slate of candidates in Ukraine’s local elections this October,” the White House said. But the vice-president “strongly criticized statements by separatist leaders indicating their intention to take additional territory and hold local elections outside of the Ukrainian legal framework, in direct contravention of the Minsk agreements,” it said. (RFE/RL, with reporting by the Associated Press and Interfax)
Washington on constitutional changes
KYIV – The U.S. on September 1 hailed the Verkhovna Rada’s approval of constitutional amendments on decentralization. National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price stated: “The United States welcomes the Ukrainian Parliament’s vote on constitutional amendments on decentralization. This action represents an important step toward comprehensive reform of Ukraine’s governance and the empowerment of regional and local authorities. In addition, this vote shows that Ukraine is steadfastly upholding its commitments under the Minsk agreements to adapt governance structures in certain parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.” In addition, the spokesman said, “The United States condemns the clashes in Kyiv that left at least two dead and dozens wounded outside the Parliament and urges all Ukrainians to refrain from violence as a means to achieve political objectives.” (U.S. Embassy Kyiv)
Poroshenko’s, Klitschko’s parties merge
KYIV – The parties of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko have merged ahead of local elections in October. Mr. Klitschko, a former heavyweight boxing world champion, was elected to lead the merged party during a joint session of his party, UDAR (Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform), and the president’s Solidarity party in Kyiv on August 28. Addressing the meeting, Mr. Poroshenko called on the country’s pro-European parties to unite, saying there were too many political forces in the country. Local media reported that the new political force is expected to run in elections under the name of Solidarity. Ukraine is due to hold local elections on October 25, but the polls will not be conducted in the areas held by Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Interfax, and TASS)
Radical Party leaves governing coalition
OTTAWA – Radical Party leader Oleh Lyashko announced that his party is leaving the majority governing coalition in Ukraine’s Parliament and will go into opposition. The Radical party parliamentary faction has 21 national deputies. The party received 7.4 percent of the popular vote in the 2014 parliamentary elections, coming in at fifth place. (Ukrainian Canadian Congress)
MH17 crash report due in October
AMSTERDAM – The Dutch Safety Board announced on August 27 that the final report into the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine last year will be published on October 13. All 298 people on board the plane, travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, were killed in the crash last year. Two-thirds of the victims were Dutch, and the country is leading the judicial and air safety investigations into the crash. In a preliminary report last year, the Dutch Safety Board blamed the crash on “high energy objects” striking the aircraft. Western governments have said they believe it was downed by a ground-to-air missile fired in error by Moscow-backed separatists. Russia contests that claim, and has variously attributed the crash to an unidentified Ukrainian fighter aircraft and a Ukrainian-launched anti-aircraft missile. Last month, Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution to establish an international tribunal to find and try those responsible for the Boeing 777’s downing. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and Agence France-Presse)
Hollande, Merkel, Putin back truce plan
PARIS – The French Presidency said on August 29 that France, Germany and Russia back plans for a complete ceasefire in eastern Ukraine beginning the next week. A ceasefire agreement reached in Minsk in February has been regularly violated. But on August 26, representatives from Kyiv and the rebels agreed to strive for an end to all truce violations from September 1 – the day the new school year begins. After the leaders of France, Germany, and Russia spoke by telephone on August 29, French President Francois Hollande’s office said the three “strongly backed” the call for a complete truce from September 1. It said Mr. Hollande also agreed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin that it would be useful to hold a summit with Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko “in the coming weeks.” According to the Kremlin, Mr. Putin expressed his concern over the “continual bombardment of towns” by the Ukrainian army and “the concentration of Ukrainian armed forces all along the demarcation line.” Mr. Putin also insisted on a direct dialogue between Kyiv and separatist leaders and the removal of economic blockades on the region. A German statement said the Western leaders voiced concerns about plans by the separatists to hold elections outside the framework of Ukrainian law. (RFE/RL, with reporting by Reuters and Agence France-Presse)
Foreign ministers to discuss Ukraine
MOSCOW – The Kremlin says foreign affairs ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France will meet by the middle of September to discuss the conflict in Ukraine. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters on August 31 that over the weekend Moscow, Berlin and Paris have backed efforts for a new ceasefire deal in east Ukraine, where fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists killed more than 6,500 people since the conflict erupted in April 2014. After the foreign ministers’ meeting “we expect leaders of the four countries to hold a phone call and we will see what they agree as to where and how to meet in person,” Mr. Ushakov said. The West accuses Russia of providing military support and personnel to the separatist rebels. Moscow accuses Kyiv of not delivering on the provisions of a ceasefire agreement brokered by Germany and France in Minsk in February. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Reuters and Interfax)
Evidence presented of Russian forces
KYIV – On August 28, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Vasyl Hrytsak, and the deputy head of the Presidential Administration, Andriy Taranov, presented evidence of the participation of the Russian armed forces in the hostilities in eastern Ukraine. The Presidential Administration reported, “The proofs were gathered by the Ukrainian intelligence and confirmed by the intelligence of foreign states – partners of Ukraine. Detailed documentary materials confirm constant and deliberate violation of the main provisions of the Minsk agreements by the Russian occupation forces concealed by the statements of Russia on the necessity of a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Relevant materials were also presented today to the diplomatic corps accredited in Ukraine. According to Ukrainian security officials, a radical change of Russian participation in hostilities in the east of Ukraine took place in the summer of 2015. The Ukrainian armed forces are now confronting, not mixed Russian terrorist groups, but structured military units of the Russian regular army. Herewith, Putin’s regime keeps denying Russia’s involvement in the conflict. Russian troops in the Donbas are directly guided by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” (Presidential Administration of Ukraine)
Estonia to build border fence
TALLINN – Estonia says it plans to build a fence along part of its eastern border with Russia to safeguard its security and protect the European Union’s passport-free Schengen Area. Internal Affairs Ministry spokesman Toomas Viks told the French AFP news agency on August 27 that construction would begin in 2018 and be completed by 2019. He said the information gathered by around-the-clock surveillance could “be used as evidence in cases of cross-border crime, be it illegal border crossing, smuggling, [or] human trafficking.” According to Estonia’s border guards, the 2.5-meter-high barbed-wire fence will span nearly 110 kilometers. The Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, have been rattled by Russia’s actions in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting government forces since April 2014. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by Agence France-Presse)
U.S. defense secretary on Russia
OTTAWA – Speaking on August 27, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, in response to a question, stated that the Islamic State, or ISIL, is one of the most significant challenges facing the U.S., adding, “The other thing that’s happened over the last year, which is unfortunate, but we also have to respond to is the behavior of the Russian government under Vladimir Putin, which was signified in Ukraine, which is I think taking Russia in the wrong direction for his own people.” Mr. Carter explained: “But it seems that that’s the direction he wants to take them, towards one of more confrontation. And we’re simply going to have to check that. Both on our own – in our own security interest and because we have important allies and friends in that part of the world, and we have important treaty commitments in the case of NATO… Those two over the last year have loomed larger. We’re going to have to counter them both.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress)
WHO reports polio cases in Ukraine
GENEVA – The World Health Organization (WHO) says two cases of polio have been reported in Ukraine, the first such outbreak of the disease in Europe since 2010. In a statement on September 2, the Geneva-based WHO said two children in southwestern Ukraine had been paralyzed by polio. WHO said the outbreak occurred because only half of Ukrainian children are immunized against the disease. WHO warned that the risk of further spread of polio in the country is high. WHO said the risk for nearby countries – Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia – is low. (RFE/RL, based on reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters)
Dzhemilev son’s prison term cut
MOSCOW – Russia’s Supreme Court has cut the prison term for the son of leading Crimean Tatar figure Mustafa Dzhemilev. Khaiser Dzhemilev was arrested in May 2013 by Ukrainian authorities in connection with the shooting death of a friend. He said he shot his friend by accident. After Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014, the Moscow-backed authorities took over the case and transferred him to the Krasnodar region in southern Russia. A Krasnodar court on June 2 sentenced Khaiser Dzhemilev to five years in jail for inflicting death by negligence, stealing and possessing a firearm. On September 2, the Supreme Court reduced the prison term to three and a half years. His 71-year-old father, Mustafa Dzhemilev, who strongly protested Crimea’s annexation and is currently living in Kyiv, has claimed Russia was holding his son hostage. He is a member of Ukraine’s Parliament and a well-known Soviet-era human rights activist. (RFE/RL)
OSCE on ceasefire at school year’s start
KYIV – The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on September 1 said it welcomes the new impetus for peace provided by the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) that the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Martin Sajdik, announced last week in Minsk. The SMM’s chief monitor, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, said, “The TCG has called for a comprehensive and sustainable ceasefire at the start of the new school year,” adding, “We urge all sides to heed the call and to establish a full and comprehensive ceasefire. This will directly and immediately benefit communities close to the line of contact, which continue to bear the brunt of the fighting. SMM teams continue to monitor and report on the impact of fighting on these communities, in particular on women and children.” (OSCE)
Twelve hostages freed by militants
KYIV – Ukraine has liberated 12 more hostages from militant captivity. “The liberated include three servicemen of the 11th Air Defense Regiment, three from the 128th Mountain-Infantry Brigade, a paratrooper from the 81st Air-Mobile Brigade, one Internal Affairs Ministry serviceman and a brave serviceman of the National Guard’s Donbas battalion who spent almost a year in captivity,” said the spokesman of the Presidential Administration on ATO-related issues, Col. Andriy Lysenko at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center on August 28. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, 155 persons, both military and civilian, remain in militant captivity. (Ukraine Crisis Media Center)
KLM drops in-flight recording by Lisitsa
AMSTERDAM – KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has dropped a recording from its in-flight playlist by a controversial Ukrainian-born classical pianist. Valentina Lisitsa has gained notoriety in recent months mainly for her comments on social media in support of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. She has also labeled as “Nazi” the government of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, among other comments deemed offensive. KLM took the action after receiving complaints from passengers. In a posting on its website on August 28, the Dutch airline wrote: “KLM gets requests from passengers to alter aspects of its product that they consider to be sensitive, unclear or incorrect. KLM has therefore decided to remove the recordings of the pianist in question from its Inflight Entertainment System.” (RFE/RL)
Patrol police to be launched in Kharkiv
KYIV – The new patrol police will begin working in Kharkiv on 26 September 26, Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov stated. The new police are already patrolling Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa. Mr. Avakov stated that new patrol police will being working in Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolayiv, Uzhhorod, Mukacheve, Lutsk and Khmelnytsk in December, and that the process of formation of new patrol police will begin by the end of the year in Ternopil, Kherson, Chernivtsi, Sumy, Chernihiv, Poltava, Sloviansk, Zaporizhia, Mariupol and several other cities. (Ukraine Crisis Media Center)