Відповіді

• 2004.02.27 | Майдан-ІНФОРМ

  Звіт Держдепу США по правам людини, продовження

  In 2002, Mykhailo Kolomiyets a journalist who was editor of the Ukrainsky Novyny news agency, disappeared from Kiev. Based on the results of an independent examination, experts ruled out the possibility of a violent death, and the Prosecutor General closed the case.
  
  No new information was available about the January 2002 attack by an unknown assailant who threw acid in the face of Tatiana Goryacheva, the chief editor of Berdyansk Delovoi, an independent newspaper based in Zaporizhzhya.
  
  There was no new information about the February 2002 attack on Ivan Besiada, reporter of the Lviv﷓based newspaper Za Vilnu Ukrayinu and an activist of Yushchenko's bloc, Our Ukraine. Besiada was assaulted in Lviv and sustained a broken jaw and a concussion. He said that the assault may have been linked to his journalistic activities. Additionally, no new information was available about the September 2002 assault of Petro Kobevko, editor of Chernivtsi﷓based opposition newspaper Chas. Local reporters alleged a link between the assault and the newspaper's criticism of the Chernivtsi Oblast governor.
  
  Although the Tax Administration began publication of scheduled tax inspections in 2001 as an attempt at transparency, it continued to harass media outlets that exposed corruption, portrayed the Government negatively, or provided positive coverage to opposition figures. In 2002, the tax police raided the office of the Internet newspaper Obkom, confiscating computers and documentation in connection with an investigation into an unspecified criminal case. Obkom attributed the raid to its critical news stories about the head of the Local Tax Administration. Volodymyr Boyko, the author of many of these stories and of articles criticizing then Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor General, Hennadiy Vasylyev, who was appointed Prosecutor General in November, was jailed on charges of vagrancy, although his home was searched for evidence of alleged tax evasion. He was released after 10 days, and the charges against him for tax evasion were dropped.
  
  In January, Obkom resumed publishing by using funds provided by the Renaissance Foundation. On April 15, the press reported that Obkom failed to prove the arbitrariness of the Tax Administration's closure in court, as well as the harassment of the newspaper's writer, Volodymyr Boyko, on charges of tax evasion. In July, Obkom complained that criminal police in Kiev were illegally collecting intelligence about the newspaper from its business partners. In October and November, Criminal Ukraine reprinted several of Boyko's articles about Vasylyev's alleged corruption, and, on November 11, the charges of tax evasion were reinstated against Boyko.
  
  In 2002, the editor of the newspaper Svoboda, Oleh Lyashko, was charged with resisting arrest during a police raid on the publishing house Respublika, which printed the newspaper. Earlier that day, police stopped a van with approximately 100,000 copies of the newspaper on a highway in Cherkasy Oblast and threw the copies into a nearby river. The edition carried a statement by an opposition parliamentarian accusing the Prosecutor General of bribery. Police allegedly pushed the van driver into the back seat of the police car, face down on the seat, and then let him out of the police car onto the road several hundred meters away. The procuracy opened a criminal case against Respublika in connection with the "circulation of confidential information about citizens without their consent" and "abuse of office" while circulating such information. At year's end, the case remained open; however, no newspaper representatives had been summoned for questioning.
  
  In April, the Rada enacted a law that prohibits authorities from interfering with the professional activities of journalists and prohibits the establishment of any body to control media information; however, credible allegations continued to surface that the Presidential Administration gave media publishers specific instructions on events to cover and how to cover them, as well as subjects not to cover. These instructions, known as temniki, reportedly included instructions for the media to portray President Kuchma favorably and avoid discussion of events that question his credibility. The Government reportedly contacted library directors to ascertain if the libraries subscribe to opposition periodicals. Directors who admitted to subscribing to such periodicals were told it was a misuse of government funding. In January, the press reported that the Parliamentary Assembly of the COE (PACE) supported an amendment to the report on Freedom of Speech in Europe that stated that the Government had interfered with the mass media's activities.
  
  The Government at times directed key businesses either to purchase advertising from regional television stations or to withdraw from advertising contracts, depending on the news coverage the stations offered.
  
  On October 3, the Rada reviewed the performance of national television and radio companies. Opposition factions criticized the performance of the national television Channel 1, claiming it denied them the opportunity to present their agenda to the public and intentionally misinterpreted opposition arguments. They claimed that programs were under the close scrutiny of the head of the presidential administration.
  
  The National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting, which issues licenses and allocates broadcasting time, was comprised of Rada members and presidential appointees. This body exerted much government influence. The Government and the Rada each appoints half of the members of the Council. Council decisions continued to show bias in favor of business interests closely allied politically with the Government.
  
  State﷓owned and independent channels were subject to the same rates for the majority of broadcasting fees; however, the Government rarely enforced fee payments for state﷓owned channels. Private and foreign companies also were required to obtain licenses in order to establish and operate their own transmission facilities. Thus, nongovernmental broadcast media were required to obtain two licenses﷓﷓one for a transmitter and one for a frequency.
  
  In 2002, the Council stripped the Kiev﷓based television company UTAR of its broadcasting license and awarded the frequency to television station Tabachuk. The press speculated that the license revocation related to the suspicion that opposition politician Yuliya Tymoshenko financially supported UTAR. UTAR stopped broadcasting after losing its license. The station appealed the decision and the Shevchenkivsky district court ruled in favor of UTAR; however, the decision had not been implemented by year's end.
  
  Also in 2002, the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting signed a letter warning Radio Dovira that it was re﷓broadcasting Radio Liberty illegally. Dovira appealed the decision and applied for an expanded license that would allow it to continue re﷓broadcasting Radio Liberty. The case had not been officially closed at year's end; however, pending enactment of a new law on radio and television that addresses issues related to re﷓broadcasting, Dovira was allowed to continue these re﷓broadcasts.
  
  Two television stations deprived of their licenses in 2002 remained off the air while their owners, who claimed they were being punished for criticizing local officials, waited for the appeals of the license revocations to be heard. The stations were the Fifth Channel private television station in the town of Nikopol and the Zaporizhzhya﷓based television station Khortytsia.
  
  In late 2002, the Rada held public hearings on freedom of speech and media censorship. The hearings were broadcast live on television and received widespread media coverage. Some media executives complained that the Government wiretapped their offices. President Kuchma was cited in the press as suggesting that complaints about censorship were exaggerated; however, in April, the Prosecutor General launched a criminal case involving the media's publication of information that the procuracy claimed was aimed at undermining the authority of Kuchma and obstructing him in the performance of his duties. Several media outlets were also charged with publishing information that was insulting and libelous to the President. Kuchma claimed that he did not know that a criminal case against the press had been initiated and later requested the Prosecutor General to drop all charges.
  
  The use or threat of civil libel suits continued to inhibit freedom of the press, but the number of cases during the year reportedly decreased. The Criminal Code eliminates any criminal penalty for libel and a 2001 Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court mandates that, in order to prove civil libel, plaintiffs must demonstrate that journalists had prior knowledge of the falsity of information before publishing it; however, lower courts still may order that a publication's accounts be frozen pending an appeal of a civil libel case.
  
  In recent years, government officials initiated more than 20 criminal and civil libel cases against Lyashko and his earlier publication Polityka (which was forced to close in 1999), asking for more than $40 million (200 million hryvnya) in damages. On February 5, Lyashko was convicted of resisting police in connection with the 2002 incident, and fined $50 (250 hryvnya). Lyashko appealed the conviction. At year's end, the Government was continuing its lengthy efforts to deprive Radio Kontinent and UTAR of their license to broadcast, with results that were inconclusive at year's end. In 2001, the Council decided against renewing the license of Radio Kontinent (RK), an independent radio station that rebroadcast news reports of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Voice of America (VOA), and Deutsche Welle. RK had been critical of the Government in its own broadcasts, and its owner had been highly critical of President Kuchma's relationship with the media. After a successful challenge to its initial rationale that RK's rebroadcasts of foreign stations were illegal, the Council cited a debt owed by the station to the Government as grounds for its decision. Subsequently, the Kiev Municipal Arbitration Court denied RK's request to block the sale of the radio station's frequency. RK continued to operate pending further appeal, and the ECHR reviewed the case. No information was available about the results of that review. During the year, RK went off the air after the power company, Kievenergo, cut off electricity to the State University of Technology and Design, where RK rents office space.
  
  On April 3, the Rada passed a law that set limits on the amount of damages that can be claimed in lawsuits for libel. The law requires that the plaintiff deposit a payment of 1 to 10 percent of claimed damages in the form of collateral, which is forfeited if the plaintiff loses the lawsuit. Additionally, the law waives press responsibility for inoffensive, non﷓factual judgments, including criticism. Despite these measures, the Office of the Ombudsman indicated concern over the 'astronomical' damages awarded for alleged libel.
  
  In April, the media reported that a local court ordered Chas, a Chernivtsi﷓based newspaper, to pay $9,500 (50,000 hryvnya) for moral damages based on the alleged defamation of a local official in 2001. Voicing concern that the fine would force it out of business, the newspaper announced that it would appeal the decision of the local court. An appeals court subsequently ordered Chas to pay a fine of $4,750 (25,000 hryvnya). In May, the Pechersk Local Court in Kiev ordered the publishing house Stolichniye Novosti to pay $570,345 (3 million hryvnya) for moral damages for calling the magazine "Personnel," a publication of the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management and the International Personnel Academy, anti﷓Semitic and neo﷓fascist. Two libel suits originally filed in 2001 against Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty were reheard in 2002 for the third time due to a change in judges; however, no decision or settlement had been reached by year's end for either suit and no new information was made available about the cases.
  
  Government entities used criminal libel cases or civil suits based on alleged damage to a "person's honor and integrity" to influence or intimidate the press. According to the Mass Media Institute (IMI), 46 actions were brought against the mass media and journalists for libel during the year. IMI estimated that government officials initiated 90 percent of these suits. Article 7 of the Civil Code allows anyone, including public officials, to sue for damages if circulated information is untrue or insults a person's honor or dignity.
  
  The new Civil Code, enacted during the year and scheduled to take effect in 2004, provides that negative information about a person is considered untrue unless the person who spread the information proves to the contrary. Journalists and legal analysts have expressed concern that this code will have a negative impact on freedom of speech and the press.
  
  The SBU had broad powers over the media in regard to the publication of state secrets, which included information on executions, the physical state of prison infrastructure, pretrial detention facilities, and centers for the forcible treatment of alcoholics; however, journalists reported that, in general, they were able to report about harsh prison conditions without any inhibition (see Section 1.c.).
  
  The print media, both independent and government﷓owned, sometimes demonstrated a tendency toward self﷓censorship on matters that the Government deemed sensitive. According to a poll taken during the year, many journalists believed that criticism of the president (71 percent), local authorities (69 percent), the Presidential Administration (68 percent), or criminal organizations (77 percent) would result in negative consequences such as psychological pressure, economic sanctions, and physical attacks. Although private newspapers were free to function on a purely commercial basis, they were subject to various pressures, such as dependence on political patrons who could facilitate financial support from the State Press Support Fund and close scrutiny from government officials, especially at the local level. The dependence of some of the press on government patronage inhibited criticism, particularly at the local level. This type of pressure was particularly acute prior to and during the 2002 parliamentary elections.
  
  There were instances in which the authorities restricted or banned some publications critical of governmental entities or officials. On May 5, the procuracy questioned the editor of the newspaper Litsa in connection with a criminal case on charges of publishing libelous information that obstructed the efforts of the President to carry out his duties. However, the editor was charged with printing passages that, in fact, the newspaper had not published. In 2002, Litsa complained about local government pressure following its publication of articles about the local government's interference in by﷓elections in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
  
  The popularity of the Internet has surged in recent years. According to the State Communication and Information Committee, the number of Internet users increased by 50 percent during the year and totaled 8 percent of the population, compared to 5 percent in 2002. Additionally, there were approximately 28,800 web sites, an increase of just over 4 percent from 2002. Of the 300 Internet service providers (ISPs), 10 controlled approximately 80 percent of the market. The Internet attracts more urban and younger people and users are concentrated in the central and western parts of the country where civil society is strongest. A 2000 Presidential decree identified the development of the Internet as a priority of national information policy and instructed the Government to design a state program to develop the Internet network; however, human rights observers were concerned that the Government, particularly the SBU, intended to limit freedom of expression on the Internet, which featured a number of popular opposition web sites.
  
  On December 15, President Kuchma signed legislation that further broadened the powers of the SBU to monitor Internet publications and e﷓mail. During public hearings on the draft of the legislation, which requires telecommunications operators to pay for and install monitoring equipment of 'authorized agencies,' the SBU announced that ten ISPs had already installed network monitoring equipment. The stated goal of the network was to fight corruption and further the country's integration into the European Community; however, human rights organizations expressed concern that this network has increased the SBU's ability to supervise citizens without cause. The Internet Association of Ukraine (InAU), a group of six Kiev﷓based ISPs, complained in a report to the OSCE that enactment of monitoring legislation could infringe on people's rights to privacy of correspondence under existing law.
  
  In July, the Government moved to take control of the "ua" Domain, "ua" being the country's domain suffix. It successfully filed suit against the private firm that administers the "ua" domain and appealed to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to approve the transfer to a joint Government﷓private venture. Human rights Observers suggested that this was a further move to exert control over Internet content.
  
  Although limited in readership, Internet publications, in particular Ukrayinska Pravda, played a key role in covering the disappearance of Heorhiy Gongadze and the scandal surrounding allegations of presidential involvement in the case (see Section 1.a.).
  
  While major universities are state﷓owned, they operated for the most part under full autonomy; however, academic freedom was an underdeveloped and poorly understood concept. Nepotism and bribery reportedly were common during entrance exams and also influenced the granting of degrees. Administrators of universities and academic and research institute directors possessed the power to silence colleagues by denying them the ability to publish, withholding pay and housing benefits, or directly terminating them. Restrictions by the Communications Ministry on the mailing of scientific documents also caused concern. The SBU maintained offices for the protection of state secrets in state scientific and research institutes, including those not conducting any classified research. Private and religiously affiliated universities operated without any reported state interference or harassment.
  
  b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
  
  The Constitution and law provide for freedom of assembly; however, there were some restrictions on this right. While the Constitution requires that demonstrators inform the authorities of a planned demonstration in advance, the law on public assembly stipulates that organizations must apply for permission to their respective local administration at least 10 days before a planned event or demonstration. The Criminal Code prescribes up to 2 months of corrective labor or a fine for repeatedly staging unauthorized demonstrations. Under the law, demonstrators are prohibited from inciting violence or ethnic conflict and from calling for the violent overthrow of the constitutional order. In practice, unlicensed demonstrations were common: Most, but not all, occurred without police interference, fines, or detention.
  
  By year's end, 14 of the 18 prisoners of the National Ukrainian Assembly/Ukraine People's Self﷓Defense (UNA/UNSO), who had been convicted in connection with 2001 anti﷓Government demonstrations in Kiev, had been released after serving their prison terms. Of the remaining four, three were scheduled for release in March 2004.
  
  The Constitution and law provide for freedom of association; however, there were instances when authorities impeded individuals' right to gather. For example, during the July Ukrainian﷓Polish summit in the Volyn Oblast, police briefly detained seven members of the small radical nationalist party, the Ukrainian Social National Party (SNPU), for circulating leaflets calling for a demonstration on July 6 in Lutsk to protest the Government's plans to erect a monument commemorating the 60th anniversary of the large﷓scale Ukrainian﷓Polish killings in the Volyn region during World War II and against the July 11 commemorative events in the Volyn Oblast which were attended by President Kuchma and the President of Poland. Police threatened to open a criminal case against SNPU activists on charges of fomenting inter﷓ethnic hatred; however, no criminal case was opened. On July 10﷓11, near the village where Kuchma and the Polish President were to meet, police blocked a busload of demonstrators from nationalist youth groups, refusing to let the demonstrators out of the bus for several hours.
  
  In other actions that appeared designed to block demonstrations or intimidate demonstrators, a cafeteria owned by businessman Stepan Marchenko, a leader of the Ukrainian People's Party and head of the local entrepreneurs' strike committee in Myrhorod, Poltava Oblast, was destroyed by arson on August 5, the same day, Marchenko and other entrepreneurs from Myrhorod had planned to go to Kiev to hold a demonstration outside the Presidential Administration in protest of harassment of businessmen in Myrhorod. The trip was cancelled because of the fire. Earlier, Marchenko had been summoned several times to the town hall, where it was suggested that he cancel his trip and the demonstration in Kiev. Marchenko's cafeteria had also been vandalized previously. On September 24 in Lviv, unidentified individuals pushed a group of supporters of the opposition party, SNPU, into a car and held them for several hours at a deserted location. The SNPU supporters had circulated leaflets calling for a September 25 demonstration in Lviv to protest an international agreement signed by the President and other policies.
  
  Groups must register with the Government to pursue almost any purpose. Unregistered groups are prohibited from opening bank accounts, acquiring property, or entering into contracts. The registration law also gives the Government the right to inspect the activities of all registered groups. This law requires that a party specify all its activities in its charter, but it is not required to notify the authorities of each of their meetings. A change in the group's charter necessitates re﷓registration. In September the Government reregistered the offices of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI); they had originally sought re﷓registration in September 2001. The Institute for Sustainable Communities was registered on April 21.
  
  The law provides for restrictions on organizations that are considered dangerous, such as those that advocate violence or racial and religious hatred or which threaten the public order or health. The Government had not identified publicly any group as "dangerous" by year's end; however, far﷓right political organizations reported that they were subject to harassment and surveillance by government authorities.
  
  There were some additional restrictions on political parties (see Section 3). They may not receive financial support from the state or any foreign patron. In accordance with the Constitution, the law also prohibits the establishment of political parties in the executive and judicial branches, military units, law enforcement organizations, state﷓owned enterprises, and other public institutions; however, this prohibition often was ignored in practice. The Supreme Court reserves the right to ban any political party upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Justice or the Prosecutor General.
  
  The law requires that a political party maintain offices in one﷓half of the regions; however, in practice, regional parties existed. Ethnic minorities occupied leadership positions in national political parties (see Section 3).
  
  c. Freedom of Religion
  
  The Constitution and the law provide for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respected this right in practice. Religious groups of all beliefs flourished. However, some local officials at times impeded attempts by minority and nontraditional religions to register and buy or lease property.
  
  The Constitution and the law provide for the separation of church and state. There is no state religion. The largest church in the country, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC)﷓Moscow Patriarchate, predominated in the South and East with 10,310 registered communities, 360 of which were registered during the year. The UOC﷓Kiev Patriarchate was the second largest of the Orthodox Churches in the country, with 3,186 communities, 167 of which were newly registered during the year. It was strong in the central regions. The smaller Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC), which has 1,107 communities, including 21 newly registered parishes during the year, was also strong in the central regions. The Greek Catholic Church, with 3,326 parishes of which 31 were registered during the year, predominated in the West, but sought renewed presence in Kiev. These churches exerted significant political influence at the local and regional levels. Each of these churches, within its respective sphere of influence, reportedly pressured local officials to restrict the activities of the others.
  
  The law requires all religious organizations and non﷓secular institutions of education offering religious diplomas to register with the State Committee on Religious Affairs (SCRA). Registration is necessary to own property or carry out many economic activities, such as publishing religious materials and opening bank accounts. The UOC﷓Kiev Patriarchate reported delays in the registration of its parishes. Some minority religious organizations reported that, particularly at the local or regional levels, officials of the SCRA delayed registration of their organizations for extended periods. However, there were fewer such reports during the year.
  
  Representatives of the Progressive Jewish Communities claimed that local authorities and Chabad Lubavitch officials made statements against their community in the local press while the group was organizing communities in Dnipropetrovsk. The Progressive Jewish Community claimed not only that the Dnipropetrovsk Chabad Community opposed the registration of any Jewish community but itself in the region, but also that, under pressure from Chabad Lubavitch, it was denied registration in Dnipropetrovsk. The Progressive Community dropped its registration bid in 2002.
  
  Representatives of the Muslim community noted that they have been unable to register a community in Kharkiv for the past 11 years. Local police often subjected Muslims to document checks.
  
  Representatives of minority Christian communities expressed concern over instances of discrimination against their adherents, although such incidents appeared to be isolated. Evangelical churches, like many other religious communities, experienced difficulties in obtaining land plots.
  
  Disputes continued among competing Orthodox Christian administrative bodies. The SCRA, although supportive of a unified, independent Orthodox Church for the country, has maintained neutrality in its relations with the various Orthodox churches. The UOC﷓Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church complained of harassment by local authorities in the predominantly Russian﷓speaking southern and eastern regions of the country. The UOC﷓Moscow Patriarchate complained that local governments ignored the appropriation of its churches by Greek Catholics in the western region.
  
  The SCRA served as the Government's point of contact between the various organizational entities that provided logistical support and permits during the international conference of Jehovah's Witnesses, which drew considerably more than 100,000 faithful to the capital and regional cities. Approximately 20,000 Jewish pilgrims visited the Nachman tomb, 10,000 during Rosh Hashanah. Both events took place without incident.
  
  Representatives of the UAOC cited instances of difficulties in providing religious services to soldiers and of the need to obtain approval from prison chaplains of the Moscow Patriarchate for prison ministry activities.
  
  The Government generally permitted religious organizations to establish places of worship and to train clergy. The Government continued to facilitate the building of houses of worship by allocation of land plots for new construction and through restitution of religious buildings to their rightful owners. The Government provided funds to reconstruct houses of worship, including a mosque in Sakalinye.
  
  Members of numerous religious communities encountered difficulties in dealing with the Kiev municipal administration to obtain land permits and building permits; however, problems were not limited to religious groups. A synagogue, which was used as a sports center during Soviet times, was restored and reopened in Kharkiv.
  
  Under the law, all religions, faiths, and religious organizations are equal. The clergy, religious preachers, teachers, and other representatives of foreign organizations who are foreign citizens and are in the country temporarily, can preach religious faiths and perform religious rites or other canonical activity only in the religious organizations on whose invitation those individuals arrived and with official agreement of the state agency that registered the relevant religious organization. In practice, the Government has not used the law to limit greatly the activity of religious organizations.
  
  The law restricts the activities of "nonnative," foreign﷓based, religious organizations ("native religions" are defined as Orthodox, Greek Catholic, and Jewish), and narrowly defines the permissible activities of members of the clergy, preachers, teachers, and other non﷓citizen representatives of foreign﷓based religious organizations; however, in practice there were no reports that the Government used the law to limit the activity of nonnative religious organizations. There were no reports that foreign religious workers encountered difficulties obtaining visas.
  
  Sectarian religious instruction is prohibited in the public school curriculum. Schools run by religious communities can and do include religious education as an extracurricular activity. Government and UOC﷓Kiev Patriarchate attempts to introduce training in "basic Christian ethics" into the public schools has resulted in schools now having the right to include this subject in the curriculum at their own discretion. While the country's Jewish leaders also support the teaching of ethics and civics in school, they insist on a nonsectarian approach to this training.
  
  A large number of high﷓level government officials continued to take part in the commemoration of the massacre at Babyn Yar in Kiev, the site of one of the most serious crimes of the Holocaust directed against Jews and thousands of individuals from other minority groups. The Government commemorates it each September. Discussions continued among various Jewish community members about erecting an appropriate memorial, and possibly a heritage center, to commemorate the killings. The Government was generally supportive of these initiatives.
  
  Outstanding claims for restitution remained among all of the major religious communities. The Government continued to return properties expropriated during the Soviet era to religious groups; however, not all groups regarded the pace of restitution as satisfactory, and all major religious communities continued to have outstanding restitution claims. During the year, religious communities received ownership of 358 premises (i.e. buildings or sections of buildings) converted into places of worship and another 524 religious buildings that were not designated for worship, such as former religious schools, hospitals, and clerical residences, totaling 2,388 and 1,313, respectively, since independence.
  
  Intra﷓communal competition for particular properties complicated the restitution issue, both for some Christian and for some Jewish communities. Some groups asserted that restitution generally was progressing satisfactorily, although more could be done, while others that did not receive property reported a lack of progress. The slow pace of restitution was a reflection, among other things, of the country's difficult economic situation, which severely limited funds available for the relocation of the occupants of seized religious property. In September 2002, the Cabinet approved an action plan, drawn up at the instruction of President Kuchma, designed to return religious buildings to the religious organizations that formerly owned them. The Rada subsequently adopted the first reading of amendments to the Land Code that will allow religious organizations permanent use of designated property.
  
  Friction involving various religious groups remained evident, particularly among the leadership of some religious organizations. A dispute between nationalists and Jews over the erection of crosses in Jewish cemeteries in Sambir, and Kiev, remained unresolved, despite efforts by Jewish and Greek Catholic leaders to resolve it. A local court ordered a halt in the construction of an apartment building at the site of an old Jewish cemetery in Volodymyr Volynsky. However, according to the Secretary of the Volodymyr﷓Volynsky Municipal Council, apartment construction was completed during the year and 90 percent of the units were occupied.
  
  One Christian religious group complained that the UOC﷓Moscow Patriarchate made calls to local government officials in an attempt to derail land allotments for local religious building establishments. The same group alleged that the UOC﷓Moscow Patriarchate ordered the reprint of criticism of the group originally published in a Moscow newspaper.
  
  Acts of anti﷓Semitism continued to be infrequent; however, some ultranationalist groups and newspapers continued to publish and distribute anti﷓Semitic tracts. The procuracy warned certain publications against publishing anti﷓Semitic material. Construction of a Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church cathedral in the capital and the planned transfer of the leader's residence to Kiev provoked the Ukrainian Orthodox Church﷓Moscow Patriarchate to speak out against the Greek Catholic's expansionist plans eastward.
  
  In Kharkiv, the UAOC reported that unidentified perpetrators smashed its windows with a bat on February 15. Police suspected that the bat was thrown during a fight or by a passer﷓by. Church officials did not insist on further investigation of the incident.
  
  Evangelical Christian missionaries reported some instances of societal discrimination against members of their churches, such as public criticism for betraying native religions, although there were no reports of harassment.
  
  For a more detailed discussion, see the 2003 International Religious Freedom Report.
  
  d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
  
  The Constitution provides for these rights, and the Government generally respected them in practice; however, there were some limitations. Until November 2001, the propyska system﷓﷓a nationwide requirement to register at the workplace and place of residence in order to be eligible for social benefits﷓﷓remained in place; access to certain social benefits was limited to the place where one was registered. The Government had not implemented a substitute informational register by year's end and, while fines for failing to register at a place of residence were no longer imposed, information was insufficient to determine whether individuals who had not registered had access to the social benefits that they previously had been denied. Police arbitrarily detained persons for extensive document checks and vehicle inspections (see Section 1.f.).
  
  Citizens who wished to travel abroad generally were able to do so freely. Exit visas were required for citizens who intended to take up permanent residence in another country, but there were no known cases of exit visas being denied to citizens during the year. The Government could deny passports to individuals in possession of state secrets, but those denied had the possibility of appealing.
  
  A 2001 Citizenship Law provides the right to citizenship to all individuals who were born or lived in the country before independence and to their descendants who lived outside the country as of November 1991. Dual citizenship is not recognized. Under the terms of the Citizenship Law, refugees may acquire citizenship if they have lived legally in the country for 3 years (instead of 5 years for other foreigners) and can communicate in the Ukrainian language. Refugees do not have to formally terminate foreign citizenship with their home country unless the Government has signed a specific agreement with that country mandating such a procedure; they must only notify the authorities of their rejection of foreign citizenship. Since independence, more than 1.5 million individuals have returned to the country, while more than a million persons, mostly ethnic Russians, have left the country.
  
  The Government has not supported a foreign﷓funded program to facilitate travel to the country of some emigrants who qualified for resettlement as refugees; however, more than 260,000 Crimean Tatars have returned from exile to Crimea, mainly from Central Asia. Citizenship law facilitates the acquisition of citizenship by Crimean Tatars, who were deported victims of political oppression, by waiving some of the usual residence and language requirements. According to the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), approximately 98 percent of the Tatar returnees have acquired citizenship. Crimean Tatar leaders have complained that their community has not received adequate assistance in resettling and that an onerous process of acquiring citizenship previously excluded many of them from participation in elections and from the right to take part in the privatization of land and state assets.
  
  The Law on Refugees provides for the granting of refugee and asylum status to persons who meet the definition in the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. In practice, the Government provided protection against refoulement, but did not routinely grant refugee or asylum status. The law governs the treatment of refugees and entitles refugees to all of the benefits accorded to citizens. It also extends the term of refugee status from 3 months to 1 year. The Government cooperated with the UNHCR and other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. When the law on refugees took effect in 2001 the State Committee for Nationalities and Migration assumed authority for refugee adjudication. Regional centers began forwarding cases to the central authorities in July and August 2002; however, 2 years after the implementation of the law, there was still no adjudication mechanism for this body. This process has standardized decision﷓making; however it has also slowed the adjudication of cases. At year's end, the Government informed UNHCR that it would revise these procedures in order to address this problem. The number of individuals who received refugee status during the year increased but remained very small. UNHCR reported that 1,301 applications for 1,500 individuals were received as of September, and 31 people were granted refugee status.
  
  According to UNHCR officials, the biggest obstacle to the implementation of the Government's commitments to the protection of refugees is that authorities strictly apply very short deadlines. The authorities refused to initiate asylum procedures for 70 percent of all asylum seekers prior to any substantive consideration of their application because they did not apply for refugee status within 3 working days of their illegal entry into the country. As a result, they remained undocumented and faced arrest, detention, and deportation.
  
  Under the Citizenship Law, legally registered refugees may apply for citizenship after 3 years of permanent residence. As of July 1, according to statistics in the Government Courier newspaper, 2,961 persons had official refugee status. Under the Refugee Law, refugees are entitled to material assistance. The Cabinet allocates funds in the national budget for payment of refugee pensions and small allowances for indigent refugees, plus transportation fare to a refugee center. Refugee reception centers operated in Vinytsya and Odesa.
  
  Police harassment of refugees of certain categories of individuals, particularly those with dark skin, and, to a lesser degree, Asians continued during the year (see Section 1.c.). They included at least one severe beating. The UNHCR issued beneficiary cards to persons it recognized as refugees. Presentation of this card to law enforcement authorities reportedly led to some reduction in harassment, although this procedure did not help the large numbers of unrecognized refugees. The UNHCR continued to hold training seminars for judges, border guards, and other law enforcement personnel that focus on preventing such behavior.
  
  Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of
  Citizens to Change Their Government
  
  The Constitution provides citizens with the right to change their government peacefully through periodic elections; however, seriously flawed by-elections during the year, as well as administrative and other difficulties imposed to limit organizational and publicity efforts of opposition parties, restricted this right. The Constitution provides for universal suffrage for citizens at least 18 years of age and for byelections every 4 years for the Rada and every 5 years for President. The OSCE noted some improvements in the March 2002 Parliamentary elections, but significant flaws persisted. By-elections and local elections during the year revealed serious shortcomings in which individuals opposing the Kuchma regime faced administrative obstacles, pressure to discourage sympathetic media coverage of government opponents, and interference in their organizational activities. The Rada is elected partially according to proportional representation and partially by direct constituency mandate. The most recent presidential election was held in October and November 1999. The next presidential election is scheduled for October 2004.
  
  A number of by﷓elections during the year were marked by serious irregularities. For example, two elections monitoring organizations issued reports alleging serious irregularities in the conduct of the May 18 Sumy mayoral election campaign and balloting. These irregularities included fraudulent voting, lack of consistent access by media and election observers to the electoral process, and the disqualification of a major candidate shortly before the elections.
  
  A report by a prominent election monitoring organization highlighted a number of irregularities in the June 8 parliamentary elections in Chernihiv. According to the report, some voters were not able to vote due to discrepancies in the voter lists. Additionally, there was a lack of openness on the part of the local electoral commission toward the press. As in the case of the Sumy mayoral election, a prominent candidate was disqualified just before the election was to be held.
  
  There were numerous instances of abuse of the electoral process, the prosecutorial and judicial systems, and state resources during and after the June Mukacheve elections. On December 26, President Kuchma issued a decree dismissing the elected mayor of Mukacheve and appointing a pro﷓government individual as acting mayor. The decree was based on the decision of a Lviv court of first instance that declared the June election invalid and ordered new elections. A Mukacheve court ruled the decree illegal, but the appointed mayor has occupied city hall with a police escort. At year's end, the Supreme Court scheduled the Mukacheve court's decision for review. The human rights Ombudswoman requested that the Constitutional Court provide an opinion.
  
  During the year, authorities placed a variety of obstacles in the way of the opposition Our Ukraine bloc, whose leader, Viktor Yushchenko, was the unofficial front﷓runner in the 2004 presidential elections. Efforts of Our Ukraine to hold its annual party conference in Donetsk in October were impeded by the initial refusal of airport authorities to permit Yushchenko's aircraft to land at the Donetsk airport, blocked exits from the airport upon arrival, large crowds of hostile demonstrators at each of Our Ukraine's stops, refusal by security authorities at the government﷓owned conference hall to permit Our Ukraine access prior to the official opening of the conference, and by the authorities' permitting a large crowd to occupy the conference hall, thereby preventing Our Ukraine from using the facility. The behavior of local officials, who declared that they were unable to evict those occupying the building, and the highly organized nature of the demonstrations, led to widespread charges that the authorities in Donetsk or in Kiev planned the obstructions. An effort by Our Ukraine to stage a rally in Sumy also faced obstacles. They were denied use of the city's larger indoor venues, and the outdoor event they were able to stage was interrupted by a large group of protesters, who threw eggs, firecrackers, and stones. According to Our Ukraine, a number of bus companies cancelled contracts to transport Our Ukraine supporters to Sumy. Smaller﷓scale disruptions were reported at several other Our Ukraine regional rallies. Following these events, Parliament established an ad hoc commission to monitor the observance of the rights of Rada deputies and citizens to hold meetings and rallies. The commission did not release any findings by year's end.
  
  Improvements in the 2002 parliamentary elections that were noted by the OSCE monitoring mission included a new Election Law that took into account international recommendations and a civil society engaged in the electoral process. For example, extensive NGO monitoring of the pre﷓election and election processes and prompt release of exit polling immediately after the voting ended helped to improve the electoral process. However, a general atmosphere of distrust pervaded the pre﷓electoral environment due to factors that included flawed implementation of the legal framework, illegal interference by authorities in the electoral process, and abuse of administrative resources, including alleged pressure on public employees to vote for certain candidates. Media coverage was highly biased, and opposition candidates did not have equal access to electronic media. The Government did not move in a proactive manner to ensure a level playing field for all political parties. Officials did not take steps to curb the widespread and open abuse of authority, including the use of government positions and facilities, to the unfair advantage of certain parties.
  
  According to the OSCE report, voter lists were unreliable, including voters who had moved to other districts or left the country and deceased persons whose names remained on voter lists. During the parliamentary elections, there were numerous reports that the Government relied on local and regional authorities to pressure voters into supporting pro﷓presidential parties. Authorities also used administrative resources to support pro﷓presidential party campaigning activities. The OSCE noted a "surprising" contrast between the party﷓list vote and the single﷓mandate results. Election experts consider single district constituencies more easily manipulated than party list elections. There were many instances of harassment during campaigning and, as with previous elections, opposition candidates complained of voting irregularities, a lack of access to the media, and government pressure on behalf of pro﷓presidential candidates. Some violent incidents, including one killing in the 2002 pre﷓election period, may have been politically motivated (see Section 1.a.).
  
  International observers noted violations of election day procedures in the 1999 presidential election, with more numerous and serious violations occurring in the second round of voting. A representative of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) declared that the election was "far from fair and democratic." However, because of President Kuchma's 18﷓point margin of victory, observers concluded that it was unlikely that these problems significantly altered the final outcome of the election.
  
  A number of events took place toward the end of the year which were interpreted by political opponents of President Kuchma and by many human rights observers, including the special rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, as efforts to ensure the President's hold on power after the end of this term in office expired in 2004. The spokesmen for the Government denied these assertions, and the President vowed not to seek another term. In early December, the Constitutional Court approved three draft packages of constitutional changes initiated by the Presidential Administration and pro﷓presidential majority. While the packages ostensibly would increase the authority of Parliament, many critics state that the draft amendments were designed to strengthen the power of the President, alter future presidential elections, and prevent the opposition from gaining power. The two majority﷓sponsored packages proposed that the President be elected by Parliament. The legislation was under consideration in the Rada at year's end. On December 30, the Constitutional Court ruled that President Kuchma could run for a third term in 2004, stating that the Constitutional limit of two terms did not apply to President Kuchma's first term since it began before the new Constitution took effect in 1996.
  
  Two opposition party members died under suspicious circumstances during the year (see Section 1.a.). No new information was made available about the NGO Committee of Voters of Ukraine's (CVU) election monitor Oleksandr Olynyk, who disappeared following the March 2002 elections (see Section 1.b.).
  
  There were 21 women in the 450﷓seat Rada, down from 23 in the previous Rada. No women held ministerial posts. The 18﷓member Constitutional Court had 2 female members. Women occupied approximately 9.7 percent of regional council seats, according to statistics from the State Committee for Family and Youth.
  
  The representation of Crimean Tatars continued to increase in local and regional councils. Crimean Tatars had the third largest representation on the Supreme Council of Crimea, due largely to citizenship laws that increased the number of eligible voters from the Crimean Tatar community.
  
  Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
  Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
  
  A wide variety of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases and Government officials frequently were cooperative and responsive to the views of NGOs; however, human rights groups reported continued difficulties in investigating some human rights abuses.
  
  On December 11, the Rada approved a resolution establishing an ad hoc commission to investigate foreign﷓funded NGOs. Human rights observers viewed this as an attempt by the Government to discredit NGOs in the eyes of the public and reduce possible sources of points of view contrary to its own.
  
  The Parliamentary Commissioner on Human Rights is a constitutionally mandated, independent human rights Ombudsman. The incumbent was reelected on June 19 to a second 5﷓year term. The law provides the Ombudsman with unrestricted and unannounced access to any public official, including the President; unrestricted access to any government installation; and oversight of the implementation of human rights treaties and agreements to which the country is a party; however, the law provides no penalties for those who obstruct the Ombudsman's investigations, nor does it create sufficient enforcement authority for the Ombudsman. The law requires the Government to submit amendments to existing laws in order to establish a legal framework for the operation of the Ombudsman's office; however, although the Ombudsman noted the lack of effective mechanisms for protection of human rights in a November 2000 report to Parliament, that body had not enacted any such amendments by year's end. All citizens and residents can address their concerns to the Ombudsman, and the Ombudsman serves as an intermediary between citizens and the Constitutional Court, since citizens cannot address the Court directly (see Section 1.e.).
  
  In 2002, the Ombudsman's office reported that it had received approximately 270,000 letters and other requests for information from individuals during the year. It is unclear how many of those requests were complaints of human rights violations. The office consisted of approximately 100 full﷓ and part﷓time workers; however, according to the Ombudsman, underfunding of the office continued to hamper its activities. The Ombudsman continued to make the combating of trafficking in persons (see Section 6.f.) and improving prison conditions (see Section 1.c.) major priorities during the year.
  
  Citizens have the right to file appeals with the ECHR about alleged human rights violations. The ECHR has described the country as the fourth largest contributor of complaints. Between 1997 and the end of 2002, approximately 4,000 applications were filed with the court from Ukraine. There were seven decisions during the year: Six cases resulted in the finding that human rights violations had been committed, and, in one case, the court delivered a ruling of just satisfaction and awarded the applicant approximately $836,999 (550,000 euros) in monetary and non-monetary damages.
  
  Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Disability, Language or Social Status
  
  The Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, and other grounds; however, the Government did not enforce these provisions effectively due, in part, to the absence of an effective judicial system.
  
  Persons living with HIV/AIDS faced discrimination in the workplace; job loss without recourse to legal protection; harassment by law enforcement, prosecutorial, and judicial authorities, and social isolation and stigmatization within their communities.
  
  Women
  
  Violence against women reportedly was pervasive. Spousal abuse is illegal, but the authorities often pressured women not to press charges against their husbands. On June 5, President Kuchma signed a law prescribing fines and arrest for domestic violence but it was too soon to evaluate its effects at year's end. The Criminal Code prohibits rape and "forced sex with a materially dependent person," which may allow prosecution for spousal rape. Official statistics on prosecutions for wife beating or on average sentences were not available; however, the Institute of Sociological Research reported in September 2000 that 12 percent of women under the age of 28 had been victims of domestic violence.
  
  According to the State Bureau for Family and Youth, the Interior Ministry constantly monitored the 17,900 individuals officially charged with domestic violence. Of these, 13,600 were cases of physical abuse and 3,500 were cases of mental abuse. Prior to monitoring, individuals receivd first and second notices from authorities. As of October, 27,200 persons had been issued official warnings for the first time, and 3,500 received second warnings. According to authorities, the total number of registered domestic violence cases through October was 49,400, of which 19,000 were registered in the first half of the year.
  
  While statistics compiled by the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) showed that the number of reported rapes and attempted rapes had decreased over the previous few years, surveys indicated that the majority of rapes and other cases of physical abuse went unreported. Past surveys by women's groups indicated that between 10 and 15 percent of women had been raped and that more than 25 percent were abused physically in their lifetimes. The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights reported in 2000 that 20 percent of women aged 17 to 21 had faced attempted rape. In 2001, 1,051 rape cases were opened under Article 117 of the old Criminal Code and another 152 under the new Criminal Code. Information on convictions was not available.
  
  Violence against women did not receive extensive media coverage despite the efforts of human rights groups to highlight the problem. State﷓run hot lines, shelters, and other forms of practical support for victims of abuse were few. Municipal authorities in Kiev ran a women's center, the only municipally supported shelter in the country. NGOs attempted to provide services for abused women through the establishment of women's support centers in nine cities (see Section 6.f.).
  
  The country was a significant source and transit country for women trafficked abroad for sexual exploitation (see Section 6.f.).
  
  Human rights observers and women's groups stated that discrimination against women continued to be a common problem in the workplace. The Government and private businesses regularly specified the gender of employees in their help﷓wanted advertisements, and employers frequently demanded information about a woman's family situation and subsequently used it to deny employment to women who were likely to become pregnant. Physical appearance and age were often taken into account in employment decisions involving women.
  
  Women's groups reported that there was widespread sexual harassment in the workplace, including coerced sex. Apart from the law that prohibits forced sex with a "materially dependent person," which applies to employees, legal safeguards against harassment were inadequate. No statistics were available concerning the number of prosecutions for sexual harassment during the year.
  
  Labor laws establish the legal equality of men and women, including equal pay for equal work, a principle that generally was observed; however, the economic decline of the past decade has harmed women disproportionately. Women were much more likely to be laid off than men. At the beginning of the year, according to the State Committee on Statistics, overall unemployment was 3.8 percent; however, experts state that the real unemployment rate is closer to 9.4 percent. Authorities said that, as of mid﷓year, the unemployment rate among women was 9.2 percent, compared to 9.7 percent among men. Industries that were dominated by female workers were also those with the lowest relative wages and the ones that were most likely to be affected by wage arrears problems. According to statistics from the State Committee for Family and Youth released in June, women's average pay was 17.5 percent lower than the average wage for men in 2002.
  
  The Constitution and the Law on Protection of Motherhood and Childhood prohibit the employment of women in jobs that are hazardous to their health, such as those that involved heavy lifting; however, enforcement of these laws remained poor despite the implementation of a government program to combat dangerous labor. According to the Ministry of Labor, in 2002, 450,100 women were employed in hazardous jobs, a decline of more than 25 percent compared to 2001. Many women's rights advocates expressed concern that the law may be used to bar women from the best-paying blue﷓collar jobs. By law, pregnant women and mothers with small children enjoy paid maternity leave until their children reach the age of 3 years. This benefit is cited as a disincentive for employers to hire women for high﷓responsibility or career﷓track jobs. However, nearly 49 percent of the workforce consisted of women.
  
  Few women attain top managerial positions in state and private industry. A 2000 business survey found that half of private﷓sector employees were women and that women ran 30 percent of private small businesses and 13 percent each of large and medium businesses. According to Government statistics, at the end of 2002, 75 percent of the country's approximately 216,949 civil servants were female (162,682), including 60.5 percent of those in managerial positions. However, women held only 8.3 percent of the highest, "first category," positions. (These numbers did not include the "power ministries"﷓﷓the Ministries of Defense, Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and the SBU﷓﷓which had a substantially higher percentage of male employees at all levels.)
  
  Educational opportunities for women generally continued to be equal to those enjoyed by men; however, the Government limited the number of women permitted to receive military officer training to 20 percent of the total number of students accepted. In addition, the military forces limited the role of women to certain functions, which limited their chances for promotion and training opportunities; women in the military generally occupied low﷓paying, routine positions.

• 2004.02.27 | Майдан-ІНФОРМ

  Звіт Держдепу США по правам людини, закінчення

  Children
  
  The Government was publicly committed to the defense of children's rights, but budgetary constraints severely limited its ability to ensure these rights. There were few government bodies or NGOs that aggressively promoted children's rights, although the Ombudsman spoke publicly on the need to provide for youth. A 2001 law on child protection was designed to bring the country into conformity with international standards regarding children's safety and quality of life. In 2002, child and family protection laws were amended with the aim of helping to regulate child﷓refugee protection and address financial assistance for families in need. There was no information available to evaluate the impact of these measures.
  
  Education was free, universal, and compulsory until the age of 15; however, the public education system has deteriorated as a result of the Government's financial disarray. Teachers were paid their salaries during the year, but other monetary benefits due them were not paid in some localities. Increasing numbers of children from poor families dropped out of school, and illiteracy, which previously was very rare, became a problem. Of the nearly 6.5 million children attending school during the 2002﷓03 school year, 3.2 million were girls and 3.3 million were boys. Official statistics on the proportion of school﷓age children attending school were not available at year's end; however, according to a Ministry of Education sponsored organization, Vseobuch, more than 8,000 school﷓age children did not attend school. According to statistics released in June by the State Committee for Family and Youth, 10.7 million children younger than 18 years of age, including 456,000 children aged 7 to 17, worked. Of these, 87,000 were in the most vulnerable age group of 7﷓ to 12﷓year﷓olds. The All﷓Ukrainian Committee for the Protection of Children reported that lack of schooling remained a significant problem among the rural population. The problem of growing violence and crime in and outside of schools persisted, particularly in the notoriously violent vocational schools. According to official statistics, 4,381 criminal cases were opened during the year against minors involved in criminal activity. The Government has ignored this problem.
  
  Health care was provided equally to girls and boys, but economic problems worsened the overall quality of the health care system.
  
  Violence and abuse against children remained a problem. According to a poll conducted by the State Institute of Family and Youth, 43 percent of minors said that they had been victims of some form of violence. By year's end, 300 additional criminal cases had been opened against parents for neglect of parental duties. The majority of complaints of abuse of children related to child prostitution, pornographic video sales, and child molestation.
  
  Trafficking in children was a serious problem (see Section 6.f.).
  
  The number of homeless children, who usually fled poor orphanages or poor domestic conditions, remained high. According to a 2000 press release from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 100,000 children were registered as homeless; of those, 14 percent were under 7 years old. According to the Family/Youth Committee, the Government identified 2,600 homeless children during the year. Deteriorating conditions in the state orphanages has led the Government to encourage families to provide foster homes for orphans and to facilitate the establishment of family orphanages, where the parents are paid a salary, the state financially supports the children, and a house or apartment is provided. According to officials, there are currently 1,400 children living in family orphanages. On February 21, President Kuchma signed a decree that establishes a national program aimed at addressing the problem of homelessness among children. A priority of the program is the establishment of a country-wide hotline for children, and increased cooperation with the United Nations Children's Fund to improve socio﷓legal support for children and prevent homelessness.
  
  
  Persons with Disabilities
  
  The law prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities; however, the Government did little to support programs designed to increase opportunities for persons with disabilities. Legally mandated levels of employment of such persons at state enterprises were not observed. There were only five special vocational schools for persons with disabilities. As a result, according to one NGO, approximately 7,000 children with disabilities received an incomplete secondary education. Advocacy groups for persons with disabilities maintained that there was societal discrimination against such persons. In an effort to improve public perception of them, the Government made significant efforts to raise the profile of athletes with disabilities participating in international competitions, including the Winter Paralympics in March 2002. The law mandates access to buildings and other public facilities for persons with disabilities; however, the law was poorly enforced.
  
  National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
  
  The frequent harassment of racial minorities was an increasing problem. The police routinely detained dark﷓skinned persons for arbitrary document checks, whereas document checks of light﷓skinned individuals were rare (see Section 1.d.). Although the authorities disciplined police who engaged in this harassment when incidents were brought to their attention, such behavior remained common. There were increased reports of racially motivated violence against persons of African and Asian heritage. Representatives of these groups claimed that police officials routinely ignored, and sometimes abetted, violence against them.
  
  Roma faced considerable societal discrimination. Opinion polls have shown that, among all ethnic groups, the level of intolerance is highest toward Roma. Roma continued to be subject to violence and abuse by police (see Section 1.c.).
  The Constitution provides for the "free development, use, and protection of the Russian language and other minority languages." This provision expanded a 1992 law on national minorities that played an instrumental role in preventing ethnic strife by allowing individual citizens to use their respective national languages to conduct personal business and by allowing minority groups to establish their own schools. However, some pro﷓Russian organizations in the eastern part of the country complained about the increased use of Ukrainian in schools and in the media. They claimed that their children were disadvantaged when taking academic entrance examinations, since all applicants were required to take a Ukrainian language test. According to official statistics on languages used in schools, 16,532 taught in Ukrainian, 2,215 in Russian, 97 in Romanian, 68 in Hungarian, 9 in Moldovan, 10 in Crimean﷓Tatar, and 3 in Polish.
  
  Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar minorities credibly complained of discrimination by the ethnic﷓Russian majority in Crimea and demanded that the Ukrainian and Crimean﷓Tatar languages be given a status equal to Russian. Crimean Tatar leaders continued to call for changes in the electoral law that would allow them to achieve greater representation in the Crimean legislature.
  
  The Crimean Government, pleading insufficient funds, did not assent to requests from the Crimean Tatar community for assistance in reestablishing its cultural heritage through Tatar language publications and educational institutions. However, the Government continued to work with the UNDP, OSCE, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on support for the Crimean Tatar community. According to the UNHCR, 98 percent of the approximately 260,000 Crimean Tatars who returned to the country from exile in Central Asia have received citizenship. However, Crimean Tatar leaders complained that their community has not received adequate assistance in resettling and that the previously onerous process of acquiring citizenship excluded many of them from participating in elections and from the right to take part in the privatization of land and state assets (see Section 2.d.).
  
  Romanians continued to call for university﷓level instruction in Romanian or the establishment of a Romanian technical college. There were 86 Romanian﷓language schools in the Chernivtsi Oblast.
  
  Rusyns (Ruthenians) continued to call for status as an official ethnic group in the country, noting that they are accepted as minorities in neighboring countries. Representatives of the Rusyn community have called for Rusyn﷓language schools, a Rusyn﷓language department at Uzhhorod University, and for Rusyn to be included as one of the country's ethnic groups. According to Rusyn leaders, more than 700,000 Rusyns live in the country.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Section 6 Worker Rights
  
  a. The Right of Association
  
  The Constitution provides for the right to join trade unions to defend "professional, social and economic interests;" however, certain categories of workers, for example, nuclear power plant employees, are prohibited from doing so. Under the Constitution, all trade unions have equal status, and no government permission is required to establish a trade union. The Law on Citizens' Organizations (which includes trade unions) stipulates noninterference by public authorities in the activities of these organizations, which have the right to establish and join federations on a voluntary basis. There were both official and independent trade unions.
  
  To acquire national status under the amendments, however, a union must either have branches in more than half of the administrative regions or have branches in more than half of the administrative regions where the enterprises of this sector are located. The amendments also granted labor unions the status of "legal entities," allowing them to acquire property and open bank accounts without being registered at the Ministry of Justice. The amended law still requires that a union be registered before engaging in collective bargaining or participating in the management of social insurance funds. The Justice Ministry can deny registration if the union does not meet the requirements.
  
  There were no reports during the year that the Ministry had denied registration to unions not loyal to the Government. All unions affiliated with the Federation of Trade Unions (FPU), which maintained strong ties to the Government and inherited assets from the official Soviet unions, as well as several new, independent, labor unions, were registered. However, some independent unions, including the Independent Miners Union of Ukraine (NPGU), initially chose not to register because the courts had declared that the registration requirement was unconstitutional. After changes in 2002 and during the year to legislation that granted labor unions the status of "legal entities" and required only "notification of registration," the NPGU proceeded to register with the Ministry of Justice.
  
  Although the FPU often coordinates its activity with the Government, it continued to work independently on some labor matters and advocated workers' right to strike. The FPU has supported the protests of some professions over unpaid wages; however, most FPU affiliates worked closely with management. Enterprise managers were free to join the FPU. The FPU leadership has a political party, the All﷓Ukrainian Party of Workers.
  
  Independent unions provided an alternative to the official unions in many sectors of the economy. At year's end, there were 101 registered trade unions, including 42 traditional (FPU) and 59 new trade unions. According to the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (CFTU), the latter was comprised of 28 CFTU member organizations, while the remaining 31 were affiliated with neither the FPU nor the CFTU. The NPGU, whose member unions represented pilots, civil air traffic controllers, locomotive engineers, aviation ground crews, and others, operated either independently or within one of three national confederations. While exact membership figures were unknown, there were estimated to be fewer than 2 million non﷓FPU members (down from 3 million in 2002) and 12 million (down from 14.5 million in 2002) members of FPU﷓affiliated unions. The drop in union membership was attributed to general apathy and cynicism regarding the benefits of union membership, as well as the fact that membership was no longer required for certain benefits, such as sick leave.
  
  Independent unions were denied a share of the former Soviet trade unions' huge property and financial holdings, particularly the social insurance benefits funds, a Soviet﷓era legacy on whose boards FPU﷓affiliated unions held the majority of seats. Independent trade union leaders complained that state representatives sought to influence union votes and pressure members to report on union activities. Independent trade union leaders also reported that they and their family members were subjected regularly to surveillance by law enforcement authorities.
  
  According to additional provisions of the law, management no longer is obligated to provide free accommodations and telephone lines to unions. However, the law gives unions a say in labor safety and in the allotment of newly built public housing. These aspects of the law have not been contested.
  
  There were no official restrictions on the right of unions to affiliate with international trade union bodies. The NPGU was a member of the Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers' Unions.
  
  
  b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
  
  As a result of amendments to trade union law, which took effect in June, trade unions are no longer required to register or to obtain certificates of legalization; however, the Independent Coal Miners Union experienced problems creating new branches of their organization. The authorities refused to recognize them and continued unlawfully to require legalization certificates for their operations (opening accounts, renting offices, employing staff, etc.).
  
  In the past, some authorities interpreted a provision in the Law on Public Organizations stating that public organizations are created to protect the interests of their members to mean that public organizations may offer services only to their members. However, there were no reports that this requirement was used to restrict the activities of any group during the year.
  
  According to the law, joint worker﷓management commissions should resolve problems concerning wages, working conditions, and the rights and duties of management at the enterprise level. The Law on Collective Bargaining provides the right to collective bargaining; however, overlapping spheres of responsibility frequently impeded the collective bargaining process, and the manner in which the collective bargaining law was applied prejudiced the bargaining process against independent unions and favored the official unions (affiliates of the FPU). Most workers were not informed that they were not obligated to join the official union. Renouncing membership in the official union and joining an independent union could be bureaucratically onerous and typically was discouraged by management. The law provides that an independent union may be removed easily from the collective bargaining process at the enterprise level. Under earlier legislation, if several unions at an enterprise failed to agree on joint representation, the larger union﷓﷓that is the FPU﷓﷓represented labor in the bargaining process. Neither the 1999 law nor the January amendments to the Trade Union Law addressed this problem.
  
  The Government, in a negotiation with trade unions in which all unions were invited to participate, established wages in each industrial sector in the form of a General Collective Bargaining Agreement, last signed in April 2001. In 2002, the agreement was extended for another year and, since October, official and independent trade unions have been negotiating with the Government and employers on the signing of a new agreement. The Law on Labor Disputes Resolution establishes an arbitration service and a National Mediation and Reconciliation Service to mediate labor disputes. According to official statistics, the service resolved 244 out of 409 labor disputes during 2002, in which 2,169,941 employees from 9,446 enterprises were involved. During the first 9 months of the year, the service resolved 63 out of 231 labor disputes, in which 2,579,522 workers from 6,468 enterprises participated. The collective bargaining law prohibits anti-union discrimination. Under the law, the courts must decide discrimination disputes involving a union that is barred from participating in a collective bargaining agreement. There have been cases in which such disputes were not settled in a fair and equitable manner.
  
  The Constitution provides for the right to strike "to defend one's economic and social interests," but states that strikes must not jeopardize national security, public health, or the rights and liberties of others. The law prohibits strikes that jeopardize life, health, or the environment or that might hinder disaster, accident, or epidemic﷓related operations. The law does not contain a specific prohibition on strikes based on political demands; however, it prohibits strikes based on demands to change the constitutional order, state borders, or the administrative division of the country, as well as on demands that infringe on human rights. The law does not extend the right to strike to members of the procuracy, judiciary, armed forces, security services, law enforcement agencies, or public servants. The law extends the right to strike to employees of "continuing process plants" such as metallurgical factories, provided that they give 15 days' advance notice of their intent to strike. According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) 1999 annual report, the Law on Transportation does not allow strikes in the transport sector. Workers who strike in prohibited sectors may receive imprisonment of up to 3 years.
  
  The Government has relied on prosecutors and the courts to deal with strikes that it considered illegal. The law does not extend the immunity from discipline or dismissal to strikers who take part in strikes that later are declared illegal by the courts. A union that organizes an illegal strike is liable for strike﷓inflicted losses. During 2002, there were 19 strikes in which 97 enterprises and 9,344 workers took part. As of October 1, more than 4,200 employees from 13 enterprises had taken part in 13 strikes. These figures illustrated a significant drop in strike participation from 2000, when an estimated 20,600 workers from 76 enterprises participated in strikes.
  
  There are no export processing zones.
  
  c. Prohibition of Forced or Bonded Labor
  
  The Constitution and the Labor Code prohibit forced or bonded labor, including by children; however, there were reports that such practices occurred (see Sections 6.d. and 6.f.). Human rights groups described as compulsory labor the common use of army conscripts in the alternative service for refurbishing and building private houses for army and government officials (see Section 1.c.).
  
  d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age
  for Employment
  
  The minimum age for employment is 16; however, in certain non﷓hazardous industries, enterprises may negotiate with the Government to hire employees as young as 15 with the consent of one parent. Children aged 14 can legally work on a short﷓term basis in the social sector and agriculture with the consent of one parent. The State Department for Monitoring Enforcement of Labor Legislation within the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy is responsible for enforcing child labor laws and was generally effective; however, some children under the minimum employment age worked in the informal sector. According to research conducted by the Ukrainian Institute of Social Research in cooperation with the International Labor Organization, 6.8 percent of children between the ages of 7 and 17 work.
  
  The Criminal Code prescribes up to 5 years in prison for involving children in criminal activities, drinking, begging, prostitution, gambling, or other exploitation. Children worked in the agricultural sector, and child labor was also a trafficking issue (see Section 6.f.). Begging by children existed, although it was limited. During the first quarter of 2002, the latest year for which statistics are available, police identified almost 1,500 offenders for involvement in child labor, 111 of them for involvement in begging.
  
  e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
  
  Working conditions and pay levels reflected the overall poor state of the economy. The minimum monthly wage was approximately $31 (165 hryvnya) in May. Legislation provided for an increase to $44 (235 hryvya) beginning in December. The Rada amended the Law on Pensions to increase the minimum pension to approximately $13 (70 hryvnya) from $4.50 (24 hryvnya) in 2002; however, the President vetoed the amendment and the minimum pension is now less than $10 (50 hryvnya). The amendment was intended also to bring the minimum pension into line with the minimum subsistence level of $64.60 (342 hryvnya) per month; however, all increases have been halted pending the implementation of pension reform. Pensioners also receive a supplementary social benefit of less than $4 monthly (20 hryvnya).
  
  On January 1, the minimum average monthly wage increased to approximately $35 (185 hryvnya). In 2002, the nominal average monthly salary stood at approximately $71 (376 hryvnya), and for the first half of the year increased to approximately $80 (424 hryvnya). During the year, the average monthly salary for the first time exceeded the subsistence level, which is expected to increase to approximately $67 (357 hryvnya) by the end of the year.
  
  While the government sector has repaid wage arrears in most areas, in some parts of the country teachers were not paid monetary benefits (back holiday pay and service bonuses) owed to them. Although wage arrears decreased by approximately 7 percent in 2002, they remain substantial. In the first 6 months of the year, these arrears increased by 1.3 percent to approximately $440 million (2.34 billion hryvnya), or 3.7 percent of the payroll. Most wage arrears accumulated in industry (58.3 percent), agriculture (18.5 percent), and construction (7.8 percent). They remained a problem in the private sector (which includes large enterprises in which the State was a shareholder). The national pension system repaid all arrears during 2000. Average wages were not as low as these statistics suggest, since the untaxed and unreported shadow economy was estimated to account for 50 percent of total economic activity. Activity in the shadow economy tended to be concentrated in retail trade and services but touched every sector and provided a means for individuals to supplement their often﷓meager salaries. In rural areas, where reported incomes tended to be the lowest, families subsidized their incomes by growing fruit and vegetables and raising livestock.
  
  The Labor Code provides for a maximum 40﷓hour workweek, a 24﷓hour period of rest per week, and at least 24 days of paid vacation per year. Stagnation in some industries, for example in defense, significantly reduced the workweek for some categories of workers. The law contains occupational safety and health standards; however, these frequently were ignored in practice. In particular, illegal coal mines connected to organized crime and corrupt leaders operated in unsafe conditions, resulting in scores of deaths. Lax safety standards and aging equipment caused approximately 26,000 injuries on the job each year. During the year, 24,848 people were injured (1,320 fewer than in 2002), including 1,230 job﷓related fatalities (55 fewer than in the previous year). Also during the year, 10,841 miners (down from 12,606 in 2002) were injured in the coal sector, including 217 fatalities (down from 267 in 2002). In the coal﷓mining sector, it was estimated that, in the first 9 months of the year, there were 2.57 deaths (down from 3.52 in 2002) for every million tons of raw coal extracted.
  
  In theory, workers have a legal right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardizing continued employment; however, independent trade unionists reported that, in reality, asserting this right would result in retaliation or perhaps dismissal by management.
  
  f. Trafficking in Persons
  
  The law prohibits trafficking in persons; however trafficking in men, women, and girls remained a significant problem. There were reports that some local officials were involved in trafficking.
  
  The Criminal Code imposes firm penalties for trafficking in human beings, including for sexual exploitation and pornography. Article 149 mandates 3 to 8 years in prison for trafficking. Under some circumstances﷓﷓for example trafficking of minors or groups of victims﷓﷓traffickers may be sentenced to prison terms from 5 to 12 years, and traffickers of minors or members of organized trafficking groups may be sentenced to terms from 8 to 15 years.
  
  The Government improved its investigation and prosecution of suspected traffickers. According to statistics supplied by the Ministry of Interior to the IOM, 289 cases were filed against traffickers during the year, up from 169 in 2002. Since 1998, a total of 604 criminal trafficking cases were filed; these did not include cases opened under other applicable laws, such as brothel keeping, organized crime, and fraud. During the first 6 months of the year, 33 cases were prosecuted, with 15 cases fully concluded. Of these cases, 13 resulted in convictions, and 20 defendants were sentenced.
  
  Trafficking was a national priority for law enforcement agencies, but these agencies often lacked the financial and personnel resources to combat well﷓established criminal organizations that ran trafficking operations. The Ministry of Internal Affairs established special anti﷓trafficking units at the national and oblast levels. These units became operational in 2000, and had a growing impact, although they suffered from lack of adequate resources and often were tasked to work on cases involving other crimes. The Government reported that it regularly reviewed the licenses of domestic employment agencies.
  
  The Government generally cooperated with other governments in the investigation and prosecution of trafficking cases; however, efforts were hampered by a number of factors, including insufficient investigative resources, the reluctance of victims to give evidence against traffickers, and, in some cases, a lack of cooperation from officials in destination countries. The law permits the extradition of foreign nationals charged with trafficking when appropriate bilateral agreements with the country in question have been signed, when the crime was committed within the jurisdiction of another country, and when trafficking is a crime under the laws of the requesting country; however, there have been no cases of extradition of trafficking suspects. The Constitution prohibits the extradition of citizens. Government cooperation with NGOs improved during the year. A June 2002 decree of the Cabinet of Ministers mandated that central, regional, and local administrations develop and approve measures to combat trafficking in persons and mobilize funds to implement actions. The oblast governments responded quickly to the decree. For the first time, almost all the local and regional authorities included NGOs as partner organizations in their regional action plans. The relevant authorities, however, had yet to budget for any new activities. The Inter﷓Ministerial Coordination Council for Combating Trafficking in Persons had not yet held a substantive meeting.
  
  The country was a major country of origin and transit for women and girls trafficked abroad for sexual exploitation. There were reports of men and boys being trafficked abroad primarily for labor purposes; however, the overwhelming majority of trafficking victims were women. No reliable figures were available on the extent of the problem, and estimates varied widely. There were reports that individual government employees (both law enforcement and other personnel such as orphanage employees) facilitated trafficking in persons.
  
  Between January 2000 and year's end, the IOM assisted 1,153 trafficking victims (including 525 during the year) to return to the country and reintegrate into society. From January 2002 to September, the NGO La Strada assisted an additional 96 victims to return home and reintegrate. These numbers represented a small percentage of the total number of women trafficked abroad. In 1999, La Strada estimated that 420,000 women had been trafficked abroad between 1991 and 1998. In unofficial estimates, Winrock representatives conservatively projected that between 8,000 and 10,000 individuals were trafficked abroad during the year.
  
  Women and girls were trafficked to Central and Western Europe (including the Balkans, Austria, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Portugal, Spain, Poland, Greece, and Turkey), the United States, and the Middle East (including Israel, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates) for sexual exploitation. There also were reports that women and girls were trafficked to Australia, Japan, and South Africa.
  
  Women who were trafficked out of the country often were recruited by firms operating abroad and subsequently were taken out of the country with legal documentation. They were solicited with promises of work as waitresses, dancers, or housemaids, or were invited by marriage agencies allegedly to make the acquaintance of a potential bridegroom. Once abroad, the women found the work to be very different from what was represented to them initially. There were credible reports of widespread involvement of organized crime in trafficking.
  
  Men were trafficked for agricultural labor and factory work. The main destination countries were Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Russia and Western Europe. Men were promised reasonable wages, but were not paid and were frequently turned over to the police in the destination countries as illegal aliens if they complained. The Ministry of the Interior opened criminal cases against the employment agencies who organized the trafficking when they had a specific complaint from a victim.
  
  There were unconfirmed reports that local officials abetted or assisted organized crime groups involved in trafficking. NGOs reported that local militia and border guards received bribes in return for ignoring trafficking. Some reports alleged that local public officials abetted or assisted organized criminal groups in trafficking women abroad. In a 1999 report, the UNDP identified graft of officials and political corruption as two of the factors causing the spread of trafficking and prostitution; however, data on the possible disciplining or prosecution of law enforcement and border control authorities for their involvement in trafficking was unavailable.
  
  Although 278 victims testified against traffickers during the year, victims often were reluctant to seek legal action against traffickers out of fear of reprisals or unwillingness to tell their stories publicly. Societal attitudes toward trafficking victims often were harsh, deterring women from pursuing legal action against traffickers. In addition, law enforcement officials did not provide sufficient protection to witnesses to encourage them to testify against traffickers, and traffickers were able to intimidate victims to withdraw or change their testimony. A witness protection law existed but was not fully effective because of shortages of funding. Under the law, names and addresses of victims of crimes may be kept confidential if they request protection due to fear for their lives.
  
  The Government ordered rehabilitation centers to be opened in each of the 27 oblasts; however, the authorities remained unable to assist all victims effectively, primarily due to lack of funds. NGOs such as the domestic affiliates of La Strada and Winrock International offered some support services for victims of trafficking, but these groups also suffered from a shortage of funds. The IOM's Kiev mission, in cooperation with its missions in destination countries, provided return and reintegration assistance to victims. The IOM and NGOs, particularly La Strada and Winrock International, worked closely with government officials; however, NGOs reported that the lack of activity by the central government authority on trafficking issues could be frustrating. With foreign government assistance, nine regional trafficking prevention and women's support centers were in operation at year's end in Donetsk, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernivtsi, Kherson, Rivne, Odessa, Chernihiv, and Zhytomyr. The centers offered job﷓skill training and telephone hotlines and served as referral centers for health, legal, and psychological counseling. The IOM continued to operate a comprehensive medical center and shelter for victims of trafficking in Kiev. The center provided medical and psychological services, including vocational counseling, to 173 trafficking victims in 2002 and to 144 individuals during the first 9 months of the year. These centers, as well as additional NGOs funded by the IOM, also played an important role in facilitating good relations and cooperation between victims, communities, and law enforcement organizations in addressing trafficking issues.
  
  NGOs also operated hotlines in Luhansk, Odesa, Kharkiv, Ternopil, and Sevastopol. During 2002, La Strada hotlines received 4,061 calls, 72 percent of which concerned consultation on working abroad. From January through September, 3,614 hotline consultations were provided. Since November 1997, La Strada has received more than 16,141 calls. Winrock International reported 9,000 calls to its hotlines during the first 9 months of the year; 20 percent of which concerned trafficking. The majority of the callers were between 19 and 30 years of age. The Government worked to improve assistance provided by its diplomatic missions to victims in destination countries.
  
  The Deputy Prime Minister for humanitarian affairs is responsible for implementing all anti﷓trafficking programs. The National Coordinating Council for the Prevention of Trafficking in Human Beings increasingly has become an outspoken and leading advocate in the Government for raising public and international awareness of the trafficking problem; however, the Ombudsman's office lacked enforcement powers and did not demonstrate its practical effectiveness (see Section 4). In June 2002, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a National Action Plan to Counter Trafficking for 2002﷓2005.
  
  During the year, several television stations broadcast documentary films and informational programs highlighting the danger of trafficking. Additionally, several international roundtable discussions and a major conference on trafficking were held in Kiev. NGOs conducted general awareness campaigns throughout the country and the region, often in cooperation with government entities. For example, a regional conference on trafficking involving law enforcement officials from Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and Russia took place in Minsk in May. On May 29, representatives from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry's Anti﷓Trafficking Division, the Security Service of Ukraine, the State Committee for Family and Youth, Rada deputies, the Supreme Court of Ukraine, Cabinet ministers, IOM, La Strada, Winrock, several foreign embassies, and the head of the State Border Committee took part in a roundtable on combating trafficking in persons. The roundtable focused on reviewing implementation of the comprehensive national plan to combat trafficking, practical and legislative issues related to investigation and prosecution of cases, and internal and cross﷓border cooperation between law enforcement bodies. These activities, together with the constant attention to the trafficking problem by the Ombudsman, helped to raise public awareness.