Council of Europe condemns Ukraine on use of death penalty (02/09/97)

Council of Europe condemns Ukraine on use of death penalty

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, meeting in Strasbourg, France, condemned Ukraine on January 29 for failing to implement a moratorium on state executions. It could expel the country from the council at its next scheduled meeting in April if executions are not halted immediately.

In December 1995, Ukraine had agreed to a moratorium on capital punishment and to abolish the death penalty by the year 2000 as part of the conditions for its acceptance into the Council of Europe.

The Parliamentary Assembly has determined that in the first half of 1996 89 people found guilty of capital offenses were executed in Ukraine. The number is not disputed by Ukraine's government.

The Parliamentary Assembly resolution states that "the executions that have taken place in Ukraine in 1996 thus constitute a flagrant violation of her commitments and obligations" and "the Assembly must condemn Ukraine for having violated her commitment to put into place a moratorium on executions."

Minister of Justice Serhii Holovatyi called the resolution an embarrassment to Ukraine. "It is extremely unpleasant when your country is made out to be a renegade country." Using soccer terminology he said Ukraine had been given a yellow card (a warning), and that in April a red card (eviction) could follow if Ukraine does not uphold the promises it gave.

Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma told reporters at the meeting of the World Ecoomic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on February 1 that he is for abolition of the death penalty, but Europe must understand that Ukraine cannot do overnight what Europe has gradually implemented over a 50-year time span.

His remarks reflect the problem the president and government leaders face in abolishing the death penalty: more than 60 percent of Ukrainians favor capital punishment. And that has turned the move to abolish it into a slow process.

The Verkhovna Rada has been preparing a bill for months; it is finally scheduled for debate on the floor this next week. A second proposal, by the Cabinet of Ministers, which carries the signatures of the heads of the Internal Affairs Ministry, the Security Service and the Procurator General's Office, also is scheduled for debate soon.

But few political observers believe that a law prohibiting state executions will move quickly through the Parliament when most Ukrainians feel the country is suffering a crime epidemic and that law and order must be a major priority of government.

This is not the first time the Council of Europe has confronted Ukraine about ongoing executions. In November 1996, a symposium on the abolition of the death penalty was held in Kyiv under the sponsorship of the Council of Europe. The symposium revealed that among the member-states of the organization only Russia and Ukraine had not implemented a moratorium on the death penalty.

At that time Parliamentary Assembly member Zsolt Nemeth had announced, "We have learned a shocking fact - hundreds, hundreds of people have been executed in Ukraine in the last months. We had suspected such figures before, now we are sure." The seminar demanded the immediate implementation of the moratorium, a warning Ukraine seems to have ignored.

Russia, which executed 53 people between January and June 1996, also faces expulsion if it does not enact a moratorium by April. Among the other member-states of the Council of Europe, only Great Britain and Belgium have not outlawed the death penalty, however, they have implemented moratoriums.

The Council of Europe resolution also criticized the manner in which deaths are carried out in Ukraine, where family members are not told the date or place of executions and the executed are buried in unmarked graves. "The Assembly is particularly shocked by the information that executions in Ukraine are shrouded in secrecy, with apparently not even the families of the prisoners being informed, and that the executed are reportedly buried in unmarked graves," the resolution stated.

It further voiced concern over the fact that the government does not officially release capital death figures and that numbers for the second half of 1996 are not available.

That figure is rumored to have exceeded 100 persons. Justice Minister Holovatyi would not confirm or deny the rumor. He explained that the numbers are known only to officials in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Procurator General's Office, and they will not be made available to the Ministry of Justice until later in the year.

But he was adamant that executions must be halted immediately.

"If, after yesterday's resolution, today someone is executed in Ukraine, we will not have a seat on the Council of Europe," said Minister Holovatyi, who is an advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.

He added that people must understand that nobody is dictating to Ukraine how to run its penal system. "We elected to join the Council of Europe. We promised to abide by the standards and requirements. Now we are backing away."

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