The Ukrainian Weekly 2011-05

8/7/2019 The Ukrainian Weekly 2011-05

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Published by the Ukrainian National Association Inc., a fraternal non-profit association

$1/$2 in UkraineVol. LXXIX No. 5 THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 30, 2011TheUkrainianWeekly

InsIde:

Mykola Riabchuk on selective justice in Ukraine page 6. Metropolitan Constantine Bohachevsky, 1884-1961 page 8. An artist to watch: pianist Anna Shelest page 13.

Participants of the Unity Day human chain that stretched across Kyivs PatonBridge to symbolically unite Ukraine on January 22. Unity Day, or DenSobornosty in Ukrainian, has been a national holiday in Ukraine since 1999,

when so designated by a presidential decree.

Olena Harasovska/UNIAN

by Zenon Zawada

Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV Ukrainians were disunited asever on Unity Day, holding three separaterallies in Kyiv on January 22, the day com-memorating the unification of the UkrainianNational Republic (of central and easternUkraine) and the Western UkrainianNational Republic in 1919.

The administration of President ViktorYanukovych organized a rally onIndependence Square. Supporters of formerPrime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko took toSt. Sophia Square, the site of the historicdeclaration, while Arseniy Yatsenyuk gath-ered those opposed to both leaders atKontraktova Square.

The commemoration offered evidencethat Ukrainian politics has retained its tri-polar structure of those supporting Mr.Yanukovych, those supporting Ms.Tymoshenko and those actively opposed toboth. The division within the oppositionbenefits the current authoritarian govern-ment, observers said.

The government is interested in support-ing the emergence of other opposition forc-es, said Volodymyr Fesenko, board chair-man of the Penta Center for AppliedPolitical Research in Kyiv. He added, Thegovernment can play off the antagonismbetween different opposition currents.

Those organizing the rally on St. SophiaSquare where the Act of Union wasdeclared on January 22, 1919 lobbedsharp criticism against former VerkhovnaRada Chair Yatsenyuk of the Front ofChange party and his allies for splitting thepro-Western opposition.

They shouted Shame! at LiliaHrynevych of the Front of Change partywhen she addressed the crowd on St. SophiaSquare.

The famous liubi druzi (dear friends)

who formed the financial backbone of for-mer President Viktor Yushchenkos politicalcampaign confectionary magnate PetroPoroshenko and natural gas trader MykolaMartynenko were also on KontraktovaSquare.

Soviet-era dissident Bohdan Horynaccused the Yatsenyuk crowd of fulfillingcommands from the Yanukovych adminis-tration to divide the opposition.

Perhaps Arseniy Yatsenyuk hasntmatured to the realization that unity doesntmean separated national-democratic forces,but their unity for the sake of a grand goal saving Ukraine at a time of great danger?he wrote in a column published on theUkrayinska Pravda website on January 25.

Meanwhile, those who joined the St.Sophia Square event included oppositionleader Ms. Tymoshenko, former DefenseMinister Anatoliy Grytsenko, formerForeign Affairs Minister Borys Tarasyuk,nationalist orator Iryna Farion of theSvoboda party, Mykola Katerynchuk of theEuropean Party of Ukraine and MykolaKokhanivskyi of the Congress of UkrainianNationalists.

The event was organized by theCommittee to Defend Ukraine, whichincludes the Batkivshchyna party led by Ms.Tymoshenko, the Peoples Rukh of Ukraineled by Mr. Tarasyuk, the Svoboda party ledby Oleh Tiahnybok, the Congress ofUkrainian Nationalists led by StepanBratsiun and the Ukrainian WorldCoordinating Council led by DmytroPavlychko.

Patriarch Filaret of the UkrainianOrthodox ChurchKyiv Patriatch (UOCKP), whose church is under persecution bythe Ukrainian Orthodox ChurchMoscowPatriarchate (UOCMP), led the Orthodoxmoleben initiating the event.

It was interrupted by Ms. Tymoshenkoand her entourage, who arrived late. She

Ukraines Unity Day holiday manifests divisions in society

Thousands of Ukrainians gathered on St. Sophia Square to commemorate UnityDay on January 22, 92 years after the Ukrainian National Republic and theWestern Ukrainian National Republic declared their unification.

Volodymyr Musyak

Human Rights Watch slams West

for cowardice on rights issuesRFE/RL

An international rights group hasaccused Western powers of not doingenough to pressure abusive regimes toprotect basic human rights.

The 648-page Human Rights Watch(HRW) report, a compendium of humanrights abuses reported around the worldin the past year, criticizes the democra-

cies for their soft reaction to repressiveregimes.The report singles out the United

States, the European Union and theUnited Nations for failing to put enoughpressure on abusive governments, high-lighting what it called a near-universalcowardice in confronting Chinas deep-ening crackdown on basic liberties.

HRW also charged Western leaders,particularly U.N. Secretary-General BanKi-moon, European Union foreign poli-cy chief Catherine Ashton, and U.S.President Barack Obama with focusingtoo much on dialogue and not enough onconfronting abuses.

It condemns as soft the EUs responseto authoritarian regimes in Uzbekistanand Turkmenistan, denouncing what it

calls the blocs obsequious approachtoward both countries and arguing thatleaders of authoritarian governmentswelcome an emphasis on dialoguebecause it is likely to remove the spot-light from human rights discussions.

The report coincides with a rare visit

(Continued on page 11)

drew the crowds attention and applause,which grew loud enough to interfere withthe prayer and visibly irritate PatriarchFilaret, who kept his distance from theopposition leader for the remainder of theevening.

Svoboda nationalists officially endorsedand supported the commemoration on St.Sophia Square, but its activists also attendedthe Kontraktova Square event, distributingthe partys newspaper and observing thevertep (Nativity Play) being performed thereby Bohdan Beniuk, a regarded actor andSvoboda party member.

We sent our people to distribute our

party newspaper, said Yurii Sytoriuk, theparty spokesman. Why no go there andadvertise Svoboda? We used it as party pro-paganda.

The For Ukraine party, a national-demo-cratic force committed to Euro-Atlanticintegration, took a similar approach, dis-patching its leader Viacheslav Kyrylenko tothe event on St. Sophia Square. He declinedan offer to address the crowd, instead min-gling with participants afterwards.

The For Ukraine party officiallyendorsed the Kontraktova event, which Mr.



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3THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 30, 2011No. 5

WINDOW ON EURASIA

Moscow moves to close down Ukrainian institutions in Russiaby Paul Goble

Apparently confident that now it can doso without objections from the Yanukovychadministration in Kyiv, Moscow has dis-

banded the Federal National-CulturalAutonomy of Ukrainians of Russia and is

setting the stage for closing the Ukrainianlibrary in the Russian capital by continuingits seizures of extremist literature there.

The Russian government, like its Sovietpredecessor, has never been supportive of

the more than 5 million ethnic Ukrainiansliving there, refusing to open any Ukrainian-language state schools even as it has com-plained about closure of some of the manyRussian-language schools operating inUkraine.

But in recent weeks, Moscow has movedagainst even the few Ukrainian institutionsthat do exist inside the Russian Federation.On the basis of a March 2010 appeal by theRussian Justice Ministry, the RussianSupreme Court on November 24, 2010, liq-uidated the Federal National-CulturalAutonomy of Ukrainians of Russia as alegal entity.

According to Vladimir Semenenko, theformer head of that institution, the Justice

Ministry made three specific complaintsabout the groups diversions. First, Mr.Semenko gave an interview to RadioLiberty. Second, the group organized a pub-lic conference on Ukrainian studies in

Russia. And third, its leaders took part incommemorations of the Great Famine 1932-1933, or Holodomor.

On January 13 Russian Foreign MinisterSergey Lavrov confirmed that the closurewas based on the autonomys political activi-ty. He said that that the autonomy had beenshuttered because its leaders were engagedin political activity directed at underminingRussian-Ukrainian relations (globalist.org.ua/shorts/61127.html).

Meanwhile, Russian Internal AffairsMinistry (MVD) officials have been con-

ducting searches for extremist literature inthe Library of Ukrainian Literature inMoscow. The latest of these occurred onJanuary 14. Both Ukrainian Embassy offi-cials and Russian ones insist the library hasnot been closed, but the librarians there saythat a court case is hanging over them and it.

Natalya Sharina, the librarys director,said the MVD officers had come from theanti-extremist section and had behaved insuch a threatening way that members of herstaff had called for emergency medical help.She acknowledged that the library was stillopen, but said the criminal case was goingon in parallel (www.unian.net/rus/print/416293).

Foreign Minister Lavrov, also on January

Paul Goble is a long-time specialiston ethnic and religious questions inEurasia who has served in variouscapacities in the U.S. State Department,the Central Intelligence Agency and theInternational Broadcasting Bureau, aswell as at the Voice of America andRadio Free Europe/Radio Liberty andt h e C a r n e g i e E n d o w m e n t f o rInternational Peace. Mr. Goble writes ablog called Window on Eurasia(http://windowoneurasia.blogspot.com/).This article above is reprinted with per-mission.

Interfax-Ukraine

KYIV The new government of Ukrainedoes not infringe on the rights and freedomsof Ukrainian citizens, but there are somerumors that affect the president and the gov-ernment in general, said the deputy head ofthe Presidential Administration, HannaHerman.

I absolutely refute these statements [onpressure being applied to writers and jour-nalists], [and] I would like to speak hereonly about several particular cases, she saidon Channel 5 on Sunday evening, January23.

In particular, Ms. Herman actions by thepolice in relation to writer Maria Matios alot of nonsense.

Our police are as they are its apity, but we dont have other police offi-cers for our writers. But they [the policeofficers] should be educated, trained,[improved]. And I believe that it was ahuge mistake [to search the writers

apartment], she commented.Ms. Herman said that the opposition had

taken advantage of this situation.I understand that the police have their

own work to do, but apart from their workthe police must have a head. And if thepolice do not have a head and brains, thenthey will do great harm to the president,she noted.

Ms. Herman also said she was sure thatsuch cases would not happen in Ukraine inthe future.

In addition, the deputy head of thePresidential Administration said that theposition of Freedom House, the U.S. non-governmental organization that loweredUkraines rating to the category of partlyfree countries, was biased.

I believe that Freedom House was biasedagainst Ukraine For us the greatest pledgeof freedom is the economic freedom ofUkrainians Freedom House also got someone-sided information, Ms. Herman said.

Herman: No violations

of rights in UkraineOSCE

VILNIUS The OSCE chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign MinisterAudronius Aubalis, met representativesfrom international non-governmentalorganizations in Vilnius January 19 andinvited them to take part in an open dia-logue with Lithuanias 2011 chairman-ship of the Organization for Security andCooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Minister Aubalis met representativesfrom international non-governmentalhuman rights organizations from theInternational Civic Initiative for theOSCE, offered to maintain a regular dia-

logue and urged them to actively partici-pate in OSCE events and thereby contrib-ute to the OSCEs work.

OSCE is unique as we bring non-gov-ernmental organizations into the heart ofour decision-making. Civil societys par-ticipation in the work of the OSCE isgreatly valued. Cooperation and a mutualexchange of views are very important,and Lithuania is ready to continue a live-ly and very open dialogue with civil soci-ety, said Mr. Aubalis, who emphasizedthat the promotion of media freedom and

pluralism as well as tolerance, is amongthe priorities of Lithuanias chairmanship.

We welcome constructive, focusedand consolidated civil society recommen-dations on all issues concerning theOSCE human dimension, he added.

Mr. Aubalis said he plans to meet rep-resentatives of civil society during hisforthcoming visits to Moscow andWashington, as well as to countries withOSCE field operations in the SouthCaucasus, Eastern Europe, Central Asiaand Southeastern Europe.

The NGO representat ives fromBelarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania,Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom andUkraine attending the January 19 meetingconveyed an appeal by the InternationalCivic Initiative for the OSCE on coopera-tion during Lithuanias chairmanship.The appeal calls for civil societys role inthe OSCEs work to be strengthened andsets out guidelines and proposals for co-operation with the OSCE Chairmanship.Es tabl i shed in Apr i l 2010, theInternational Civic Initiative for theOSCE comprises 11 international non-governmental human rights organiza-tions.

OSCE chair meets representatives

of international human rights NGOs

Impossible to Forget was the titleof a feature published in the travel sec-tion of The New York Times on January9. Among the five Times correspon-dents who recalled the places theywould go back to if they got thechance, was Clifford J. Levy, whowrote about Lviv. Other places fea-tured were: Phnom Penh, Cambodia;Lago Todos los Santos, Chile; Caserta,Italy; and the Orchids Hotel, Congo.Following is an excerpt from Mr.Cliffords account. (The full text maybe read at http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/travel/09lviv.html.)

this city on the edge of the Sovietempire, at a crossroads of Europe, was acobblestoned find. winding streetsreflected the influences of centuries ofoverlapping cultures.

Lviv has gone by many names,thanks to its many rulers, from theSoviets to the Germans to the Poles.But it is the Austro-Hungarian Empirethat seems to have had the strongestinfluence. As I roamed, I was remindedmore of Vienna and Prague than

Moscow. what really distinguished Lvivwas its decidedly international sensi-bility, more evident than in any citythat I have visited in the former SovietUnion. This was obvious from therange of cathedrals making up thecitys skyline: Ukrainian Orthodox,Russian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodoxand Roman Catholic.

Lviv is also base for the UkrainianGreek-Catholic Church, which in itselfspeaks to a melding: the church is loyalto Rome, but allows some priests tomarry and follows the Eastern ceremo-nial rite. Lviv was also home to a thriv-ing Jewish community before WorldWar II, and I wandered past the ruinsof one of the main synagogues. Notmany Jews remain, but plans are beingdeveloped to rebuild the synagogue.

And so it went: I tried to work, butthe city kept pulling me away. I wentto interview an official at City Hall, butended up at the observation deck onthe buildings tower, admiring views ofLvivs splendid architecture classical,Baroque and other styles.

Lviv: impossible to forgetInterfax-Ukraine

KYIV The concept for language educa-tion proposed by the Ukraines Ministry ofEducation, Science, Youth and Sports willlead Ukrainian education towardRussification, the Ukrainian public organi-zation Ne Bud Baiduzhym! (Dont BeIndifferent!) has said.

This concept is a new method ofRussification of Ukraine. I guess this con-cept will be adopted quickly, so that thepublic will not be able to oppose it. This is anew, invisible method of Russification ofUkraine, a representative of the organiza-tion, Olena Podobed-Frankivska, said dur-ing a press conference hosted on January 19by the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

According to Ms. Podobed-Frankivska,when the Education Ministry presented thisconcept at a public discussion, some regula-tions were violated in particular, the termset for a public discussion.

A public discussion of this projectshould have been held for no less than amonth, she noted.

In turn, sociolinguist Dr. Larysa Masenkosaid: Why did you decide that the concept

is aimed exactly at this [Russification]? ...There are no clear regulations on a specifiedlanguage. These norms can be applied toboth the Ukrainian and Russian languages.There is no definition on the main languageof education in Ukraine.

At the same time, Ms. Masenko criti-cized the concept. This concept will onlydeepen the split in the society, thats why itis very dangerous, and in fact it practicallyreturns us to the Soviet Union.

A senior researcher at the Institute of theUkrainian Language of the NationalAcademy of Sciences of Ukraine, OksanaDanylevska, said that the key principle ofthe proposed idea was a political quick fix.I should say that this is a short-term con-

cept for the current political situation.Unfortunately, it does not care about actualeducation, she added.

Ms. Podobed-Frankivska said that activ-ists of Ne Bud Baiduzhym would bring anew doorplate reading Education Ministryof Russia. Foreign Representative Office tothe Education Ministry in Kyiv. She noted,We want to rename the ministry to matchits deeds.

Activists charge Education Ministry

concept will lead to Russification



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No. 5THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY SUNDAY, JANUARY 30, 20114

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Plokhys Yalta nominated for Lionel Gelber Prizeby Oksana Zakydalsky

TORONTO Yalta: The Priceof Peace by Serhii Plokhy,Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor ofUkrainian History at Harvard, hasbeen shortlisted for the 2011 LionelGelber Prize.

The jury citation for the book

reads: A work of outstandingscholarship which brings to lightimportant interpretations based onnewly available Russian docu-ments. Going beyond the Westernsources, this is a seminal treatmentof a profoundly important momentin history.

Prof. Plokhy is the third holderof the endowed Hrushevsky chairin Ukrainian history at Harvard,which he assumed in the fall of2007. Before coming to Harvard,he was based at the University ofAlberta, where he served as actingdirector of the Canadian Instituteof Ukrainian Studies (CIUS) and asassociate director of the Peter

Jacyk Center for UkrainianHistorical Research at CIUS.

Called by The Economist the

worlds most important award fornon-fiction, the Lionel GelberPrize was founded in 1989 by theCanadian diplomat and scholar. Itis a literary award for the worldsbest non-fiction book in Englishthat seeks to deepen public debateon significant global issues. Thewinning author receives $15,000.

The prize is presented annuallyby The Lionel Gelber Foundation,in partnership with the MunkSchool of Global Affairs at theUniversity of Toronto and ForeignPolicy magazine. The winner of the2011 Lionel Gelber Prize, to beannounced on March 1, will deliverthe annual Lionel Gelber Lecture atan award ceremony on March 29.

The other four shortlisted worksinclude: Why the West Rules forNow by Ian Morris (U.S.A.);Arrival City: The Final Migrationand our Next World by DougSaunders (United Kingdom); TheHungry World: Americas ColdWar Battle Against Poverty in

Asia by Nick Cullather (U.S.A.);and Polar Imperative: A Historyof Arctic Sovereignty in North

America by Shelagh D. Grant (Canada).Last years winner of the Lionel Gelber

Prize was The Generalissimo: ChiangKai-shek and the Struggle for ModernChina by Jay Taylor.

TORONTO On January 17 the Ukrainian WorldCongress (UWC) expressed its concern to HungarysPrime Minister Viktor Orban that the elections of the

National Ukrainian Minority Self-Government inHungary held on January 9 could undermine the rep-resentation of the Ukrainian minority and jeopardizeits effective participation in public life.

According to a UWC member-organization, theAssociation of Ukrainian Culture in Hungary, in sev-eral cases the electorate voting and the candidatesrunning for the National Ukrainian Minority Self-Government are not part of the Ukrainian communi-ty and do not preserve the Ukrainian language, cul-ture and traditions.

The Ukrainian World Congress calls upon theprime minister of Hungary to urgently appoint asenior government official to verify whether theelectoral process, including the elections of theNational Ukrainian Minority Self-Government inHungary, was conducted in accordance with the fun-

damental principles governing such elections, and ifnot, to take approriate measures to rectify the situa-tion, stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.

UWC appeals to Hungary

about representation

of Ukrainian minority


5/24


THEUKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM

THE UNA: 116 YEARS OF SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY

WOONSOCKET, R.I. Ukrainian National Association Branch 241 in Woonsocket, R.I., hosted its annual St. Nicholas/Christmas party for the children of St. Michaels Ukrainian Catholic Church. Msgr. Roman Golemba and Janet Bardell, branchsecretary, greeted the youngsters. Lydia Kusma Minyayluk and Lydia Zuk Klufas programmed the event with poems andsongs. The parents prepared a delicious lunch. John Tkach, as well as several of the children, provided the musical enter-tainment. Of course, the highlight of the event came when St. Nicholas presented gifts to the eager children.

Lydia Z. Klufas

PARSIPPANY, N.J. Carolers, or koliadnyky, from the Jersey City, N.J., branch of the Ukrainian American YouthAssociation, paid a visit to the Ukrainian National Associations Home Office on January 17. The group (seen above) sangcarols, recited poetry and offered best wishes for the Christmas and New Year season to the employees of the UNA and itspublications, Svoboda and The Ukrainian Weekly.

Credit

Roma Hadzewycz

UNA Branch 241 facilitates visit by St. Nicholas

Jersey City UAYA members bring koliada to the UNAMission

StatementThe Ukrainian National

Association exists:

to promote the principles offraternalism;

to preserve the Ukrainian,Ukrainian American andUkrainian Canadian heritage and

culture; and

to provide quality financialservices and products to its mem-bers.

As a fraternal insurance society,the Ukrainian NationalAssociation reinvests its earnings

for the benefit of its members andthe Ukrainian community.

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Job opening at

THE UKRAINIAN WEEKLY

Full-time layout artist based at our office

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Those interested in an opportunity to join The Ukrainian

Weeklys production team are encouraged to send aresume and a cover letter explaining their interest in theposition, along with salary requirements, to: Editor-in-Chief, The Ukrainian Weekly, 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box280, Parsippany, NJ 07054; or to [email protected].

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Last year, Ukraines former President Leonid Kuchma said inan interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) onFebruary 1, 2010, that Ukraines political system was dysfunction-al and needed an infusion of fresh talent.

Mr. Kuchma told Dmitry Volcheck of RFE/RLs Russian Service that regardless of whowon the February 7, 2010, runoff between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and ViktorYanukovych, Ukraines political institutions would remain incapable of dealing with thecountrys pressing problems. Whatever the outcome [of the runoff elections], it will notbring political stability or resolve any economic problems in the country, he observed.

The promise of the 2004 Orange Revolution, he said, remained unfulfilled because of thebickering between President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Tymoshenko, destroy-ing the peoples trust in the governments ability to implement permanent positive reforms.

Mr. Kuchma, who was president of Ukraine from 1994 to 2005, saw the stabilization ofthe country, but his regime is also accused of widespread corruption and of stifling thenascent free press. He is also suspected of involvement in the disappearance of the opposi-tion journalist Heorhii Gongadze.

Ukraines foreign policy agenda of Euro-integration under President Yushchenko, Mr.Kuchma said, accented the divisions between the Ukrainian-speaking western regions andthe largely Russian-speaking east. This differed from President Kuchmas multi-vector for-eign policy, which tried to maintain good relations with both Russia and the West.

Regardless of how close Kyivs relations become with Moscow, there is little risk thatUkraine will imitate Russias authoritarian political model, Mr. Kuchma said.

Im absolutely confident that such fears are groundless. Ukraine is really not Russia andwe have different a mentality, Mr. Kuchma said. There are three bosses for every twoUkrainians, thats true, and there is always some struggle at every level. So, I dont thinksuch a threat exists. Moreover, our parliamentary-presidential model protects the countryfrom dictatorship.

Source: Kuchma says Ukraines political system is dysfunctional, (RFE/RL), TheUkrainian Weekly, February 7, 2010.

Feb.

12010

Turning the pages back...

Twenty years ago, on January 13, 1991, The Ukrainian Weeklys Kyiv PressBureau was born. We noted that major milestone in our January 20, 1991, issue with asimple story on page 3 headlined Weekly correspondent now in Kiev (yes, thatshow we all used to spell the name of Ukraines capital city). The lead read: MartaKolomayets, an associate editor of The Ukrainian Weekly, arrived on Sunday, January13, in Kiev, where she will serve as a correspondent for The Weekly and set up theUkrainian National Associations press bureau.

The move was months in the making and not a simple undertaking at that. Itcame about as a result of a resolution adopted at the UNAs May 1990 conventionwhich stated: The convention urges the UNA Executive Committee to look intoestablishing a bureau in Kiev and/or Lviv which would provide direct news service ona regular basis to our UNA publications. Our efforts to establish the bureau began inearnest in October 1990 when a UNA delegation (composed of Supreme PresidentUlana Diachuk, Supreme Secretary Walter Sochan, and Supreme Advisors EugeneIwanciw and Roma Hadzewycz) attending the second congress of Rukh met with offi-cials of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Several months of dealing with red tape followed it was, after all, still the Soviet era and there were times when we thought our planswould come to naught. In the end, our persistence paid off.

To say 1991 was an exciting year is an understatement. Our September 1 editioncarried a big, bold headline: Ukraine declares independence. Three months later, ourDecember 8 issue reported the results of the December 1 referendum on Ukrainesindependence with the headline INDEPENDENCE in 80-point type capital letters.

Ms. Kolomayets reported on the USSR-wide referendum on a new union treaty and

the poll on Ukraines state sovereignty, the return of the primate of the UkrainianCatholic Church, Cardinal Mstyslav Lubachivsky and the rebirth of the UkrainianAutocephalous Orthodox Church with Patriarch Mstyslav I at the helm. When LeonidKravchuk, chairman of Ukraines Parliament, traveled to the U.S., Ms. Kolomayetswas right there, on his plane with his entourage, reporting every move.

Chrystyna Lapychak, who took the next six-month assignment, reported onPresident George Bushs visit to Kyiv (and his Chicken Kiev speech), the dissolu-tion of the Communist Party of Ukraine, the failed Soviet coup from Ukraines per-spective, Ukraines proclamation of independence on August 24, 1991, and theDecember 1 vote that overwhelmingly approved independence and elected the newlyindependent countys first president.

And there were so many other major developments under the Kravchuk, Kuchma,Yushchenko and Yanukovych administrations that were reported from Kyiv by TheWeeklys staffers. Ms. Kolomayets returned to Ukraine for several more tours; otherswho served as our Kyiv Press Bureau correspondents were: Khristina Lew andRoman Woronowycz (both did several tours of duty), as well as Andrew Nynka. Ourcurrent Kyiv editor, Zenon Zawada, has been on duty since 2005, except for a briefinterlude in January-August 2008, when our bureau continued its work thanks to our

Kyivan colleague Illya M. Labunka, who filled in admirably (during the summer hehad the assistance of intern Danylo Peleschuk).For two decades our Kyiv Press Bureau has proven its worth countless times as it

delivered the news that our community needed and wanted straight from the scene. Itprovided news and analyses that were simply unavailable elsewhere at a critical time inUkraines history. Today it faithfully, responsibly and steadfastly continues its mission.

For that, Dear Readers, we give kudos to all of our Kyiv correspondents and thanksto our publisher, the UNA, for this huge contribution to Ukraine and Ukrainianseverywhere. Happy anniversary to our Kyiv Press Bureau!

A notable 20th anniversary

The UkrainianWeeklyCOMMENTARY

Selective justice in Ukraineby Mykola Riabchuk

A prison cell might be not the best placeto spend the New Year and Christmas holi-days. But for a good number of topUkrainian officials, including former

Internal Affairs Minister Yuri Lutsenko andformer Minister of the Economy BohdanDanylyshyn, this was exactly the placewhere they had to relax and meditate on thewhims of fortune.

It comes as little surprise that virtually allof them belong to the Orange camp that istodays political opposition. Their leader, theformer Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko,was also summoned to the ProcuratorGenerals Office but was spared arrest oncondition she would not leave the city dur-ing the pending investigation.

The tough measures against corruptUkrainian officials might be well-received,both domestically and internationally inso-far as Ukraine is one of the most corruptcountries in the world and the least attrac-

tive country in Europe for foreign investors.Any cause for cheer, however, soon fadesaway once we take a closer look at the who,how and why of the allegedly anti-graftmeasures.

Who?

The entire Party of Regions can bebroadly perceived as a mafia-style organiza-tion with tight inner discipline and immea-surable shadow resources. And its powerbase, the Donbas region, has a well-earnedreputation of a local Sicily. Whatever mighthave been the past of the party and of thisregion there are no signs that their present isany different.

Ukraines president, Viktor Yanukovych,has never been absolved from the murky

privatization of a huge government-ownedestate near Kyiv, nor has he managed to castoff a parvenu lust for luxury cars, helicop-ters and other overpriced things bought withgovernment money despite broadly trum-peted austerity measures.

Like master, like servants. His ministers,governors, mayors and other clerks have norestraint in their love for la dolce vita apparently at the expense of the state. Everyday the Internet carries something newabout their extravagance, both at home andabroad.

The deputy head of the presidentsadministration wears diamond watchesworth $50,000 each and claims candidlythat this is just an innocent birthday presentfrom her party comrades, one of whom,incidentally, happens to be the mayor ofKharkiv, and the other a vice prime minister.Another mayor purchases benches for thecity metro at $8,000 each so that anotherdiamond watch as a gift would certainly notbe a problem. The head of DUSia (a Sovietrelic that runs multiple facilities and sup-plies for the ruling nomenklatura) purchaseda lawnmower for the national deputies hos-pital at a cost of $500,000. One can guesshow many lawnmowers he could buy forthis money on the free market.

Few care about the fact that the head ofthe Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) runsmultiple private businesses; the vice primeminister in charge of investment and inno-vation endorses 300 million hrv for his own

enterprises; the prime minister respondsfavorably to the request of the Orthodoxbishop (of the Moscow Patriarchate) lobby-ing for trade preferences for some Russiancompany, and so on. No one is prosecuted,

fired or even reprimanded.The only rebuke that has occurred to datewould make one laugh or cry, dependingon ones sensitivity. It comes from a conver-sation between the two ministers recordedsecretly by a journalist in the Parliament.One of them, Andriy Kliuyev, was in chargeof construction of a fast road for the presi-dent to his rancho. He naturally used theoccasion to stretch the road for a dozenmore kilometers to his own estate. BorysKolesnikov, his colleague, can be overheardchastising him but not for the embezzle-ment of state funds. On the contrary, Mr.Kliuyevs faux pas was much worse. Hefailed to extend the super highway for a fewmore kilometers to Mr Kolesnikovs dachanearby.

This probably says enough about theteam that is fighting corruption in Ukraineas well as about the ultimate prospects ofthis fight.

Yet, one more actor of this tragicomedyshould be mentioned. Viktor Pshonka, thenew procurator general, heralds fromDonetsk, as do most top officials. There,reportedly, he made his career under Mr.Yanukovychs governorship, providing areliable legal service for good people. In2000, he became notorious as a person whoallegedly tried to cover up the brutal murderof investigative journalist Ihor Aleksandrov.A vagrant was found who confessed to thecrime, but no serious evidence was present-ed in court and the poor man was released,only to die shortly afterwards under mysteri-ous circumstances. Remarkably, the last

case investigated by Mr. Aleksandrov beforehis death was about alleged connectionsbetween Mr. Pshonkas son Artem and localcriminal bosses.

Even if these allegations are false, thevery way in which Mr. Pshonka understandshis professional duty and the essence of thejudiciary within the power structure leaveslittle doubt concerning his current and pro-spective role in Ukraine. In a recent TV dis-cussion, he stated frankly: As the procura-tor general, I am a member of the presi-dents team [eager] to implement all hisdecisions. Enough said.

How and why?

The answer to this question comes main-ly from the answer to the previous one. On

the one hand, it is quite clear that the rulingteam members, including the president, arenot going to refrain in any noticeable wayfrom their deeply rooted habits. On theother, it is also clear that the Ukrainian proc-urator as a loyal member of this very team would be neither willing nor able torestrain those habits from the outside.

Political opposition and an independentmass media might be the only obstacles forthe ruling team in its drive for uncontrolledaccumulation of wealth and power. So, theirdestruction is a strategic goal for all branch-es of the government that are fully subordi-nated now to the president. The more thisdestruction can be represented as a fightagainst corruption, the better.

The government is effectively killing two

birds with one stone. It represses anddestroys the opposition on seemingly non-political grounds and, at the same time, itdistracts peoples attention from its ownmisdeeds and even wins some popularityfor purportedly re-establishing law andorder. The short-term gains of this policy areundeniable. The long-term goals are simplynot on the agenda of this band of political


Mykola Riabchuk is an author and jour-

nalist from Ukraine, and a leading intellec-tual who is affiliated with the journalKrytyka.

The article above is reprinted from theblog Current Politics in Ukraine (http://ukraineanalysis.wordpress.com/) created bythe Stasiuk Program for the Study ofContemporary Ukraine, a program of theCanadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies atthe University of Alberta.


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NEWS AND VIEWS

Metropolitan Constantine Bohachevsky 1884-1961by Martha Bohachevsky-Chomiak

Fifty years ago, on January 6, 1961, ConstantineBohachevsky, the first metropolitan of the UkrainianCatholic Church in the United States, died. He was 73years old and had been the Catholic bishop for Ukrainiansin the United States for 37 years.

Pope Pius XI appointed Bohachevsky bishop forUkrainian Catholics in the United States in 1924, whenBohachevsky was barely 40.

That appointment was part of a complex arrangementthat permitted the Vatican to formalize its relations withthe new Polish state that had taken power over westernUkrainian territories. The Poles continued their short-sighted persecution of Ukrainians in Halychyna, and theChurch was no exception.

Bohachevsky was especially singled out for his clear-cut and principled stand on nationality issues. He hadbeen arrested in 1919 by the Polish regime for organizingthe Peremyshl community relief program and for refusingto use Polish in official documents. He was freed onlyafter the personal intervention of the Vatican nuncio toPoland, Cardinal Achille Ratti the future Pope Pius XI.

In 1923 the Polish administration would not recognize

Bohachevsky as the newly appointed vicar-general ofPeremyshl Diocese. In turn Pope Pius XI would not sign aConcordat with a Poland that openly discriminatedagainst Ukrainian Catholics, as evidenced by Polandsopposition to Bohachevskys appointment. By appointingBohachevsky bishop in the United States the popes handwas freed, at least for the time being.

All Ukrainian attempts at independence, except for thedubious existence of the Soviet Ukrainian republic, hadfailed. The country was impoverished. MetropolitanAndrey Sheptytsky, who spent the immediate post-WorldWar I years as the papal vicar to America was as shockedby the condition of the Ukrainian Church in the UnitedStates, as he was by the abject failure of all Ukrainianattempts at ensuring statehood. Metropolitan Sheptytskyopposed the appointment of any of the priests already inthe United States to the position of bishop, and the searchwas expanded to include all possible candidates.

The Ukrainian parishes in the United States, lacking abishop with legal authority over property issues, were indisarray, and the position of the Ukrainian clergy wasvery difficult. Although the Russian government could nolonger buy parishes for Orthodoxy, the newly establishedUkrainian Autocephalous Church exercised an attractiveforce for those Catholic Ukrainians who became dissatis-fied with their parish. Parishioners fought each other onmany issues.

One of the most contentious was the relationshipbetween the Ukrainians who came from Halychyna, andthose who came from Transcarpathian territories. The lat-ter chose to keep using the old name for Ukrainian

Ruthenians. To minimize that very visible even withinthe Roman Catholic community conflict, Pope Pius XIappointed not one, but two Ukrainian Catholic bishops forthe United States: Vasyl Takach for the Carpatho-Rusynsand Bohachevsky for the Ukrainians.

So, when Bishop Bohachevsky came to the UnitedStates from a Ukrainian community destroyed by the war,he was faced with another poor and increasingly conten-tious Ukrainian population, this time immigrant. The newbishop was not as impressed by Americas wealth, as hewas devastated by the poverty of most Ukrainian immi-grants. He realized that Ukrainians in the United States,despite all their sacrifices often at the cost of their ownand their childrens needs would not be able to helpUkraine in any significant manner unless their own stan-dard of living improved.

Lacking monetary resources, he thought that couldaccomplished only by education. While others bemoanedthe inevitable Americanization of Ukrainian immigrantsand used their energy to work on collecting whateverfunds they could for the home country and its diplomaticrepresentations, Bishop Bohachevsky made two momen-tous decisions: one, he would build up the Church and not

embroil it in the quarreling among the Ukrainian politicalfactions; second, he would promote Ukrainian Catholiceducation on all levels to help the faithful grow in faithand wisdom.

Bohachevsky focused on being the Catholic bishop forthe Ukrainian diocese. He would build up that diocese,assure a sustainable livelihood for the priests and establishan orderly administration. He realized early on that theimmigrants to America would not return to Ukraine,regardless of their passionate statements to the contrary.The Ukrainian immigration was becoming an integral partof the multinational fabric of American society, and theUkrainian component should be a complementary one tothe United States, and not in opposition to it.

He reasoned that the Church could preserve theUkrainian Catholic heritage for Ukrainians, and at thesame time present their Ukrainian rite and culture toAmericans in the United States.

The bishop argued that Ukrainians needed schools tohelp them out of the cycle of poverty that life in the indus-trial centers held in store for them. They needed their ownChurch and their own schools to enable them to live theAmerican dream without losing their rich Ukrainian heri-tage.

Bohachevsky realized that the Church in Americawould need priests who could minister to those who onlyknew Ukraine from the church hall. He immediatelybegan work to establish a whole network of UkrainianCatholic schools, from kindergarten to college. It tooktime for the community to understand the bishops vision.

The bishop enlisted the help of the Sisters of St. Basil

Metropolitan Constantine Bohachevsky

the Great, and together they built grammar schools andhigh schools throughout the country, as well as two col-leges one for men and a junior one for women.

The Ukrainian Catholic Church in America grew to bestrong and united. New dioceses were formed andBohachevsky was raised to metropolitan-archbishop. Hewas in the midst of more plans for the Metropolitanateand its schools when he was suddenly stricken by a fatalheart attack on the eve of Christmas according to the old

Julian calendar, which the cathedral still used.By that time, many parishes had voted to use the newerGregorian calendar, which was prevalent in the world, butBohachevsky had promised his faithful that the cathedralwould adhere to the old calendar in its celebration as longas even one parish continued to opt for it. The metropoli-tan honored his promise to the minority.

When Metropolitan Bohachevsky died he was univer-sally praised for the incontrovertible achievements of histenure. But the full story of his dedicated pastoral serviceduring a stormy period of the communitys history has yetto be told. That story has many lessons for all Ukrainiansin the United States, as well as in Ukraine.

BOOK NOTES: New volume of Hrushevskys History of Ukraine-Rus EDMONTON, Alberta The ninth vol-

ume of Mykhailo Hrushevskys History ofUkraine-Rus is by far the longest in the10-volume series. Written in the late 1920s,after Hrushevsky had returned to Ukrainefrom exile, the volume is dedicated to a cru-cial period of Ukrainian history: the rule ofHetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

In the English translation of the historyprepared by the Peter Jacyk Center forUkrainian Historical Research at CIUS andpublished by CIUS Press, this large volumeappears in three separate books. Book 1 ofVolume 9 was published in 2005; Book 2,Part 1, appeared in 2008; and 2010 Book 2,Part 2 was made available to readers andscholars in 2010.

This book was translated by Marta DariaOlynyk, a Montreal-based translator, editor

and broadcaster. It was edited by the directorof the Jacyk Center, Dr. Frank E. Sysyn, andthe consulting editor for the book, Dr.Yaroslav Fedoruk, a senior scholar at theMykhailo Hrushevsky Institute of UkrainianArchaeography and Source Studies, NationalAcademy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv,with the assistance of CIUS Press SeniorEditor Myroslav Yurkevich.

Other scholars who advised on termino-

logical and historical issues include VictorOstapchuk, Sndor Gebei, Eduard Baidaus,Andrs Riedlmayer, Vasil Varonin, PavloSodomora, Erika Banski, Vera Chentsovaand Bert Hall.

The preparation of this volume for publi-cation was funded by a generous donationfrom the prominent physician and philan-thropist Dr. Maria Fischer-Slysh (Etobicoke,Ontario) in memory of her parents, Dr. AdolfSlyz and Olha Slyz.

Dr. Fischer-Slysh was born in Kolomyiain western Ukraine in 1922 and spent herchildhood in the historic town of Belz beforemoving with her family to Lviv in 1933. Sheattended the Ukrainian AcademicGymnasium in Lviv, but after the Sovietoccupation of western Ukraine she fled withher family and finished her secondary educa-

tion in Kholm. She completed her medicalstudies in Munich in 1949 and emigratedwith her family to the United States in 1950.

She practiced as a pediatrician inKankakee, Ill. In 1959 she married Dr.Rudolf Fischer, who was born in Straubing,Bavaria, and completed his medical studiesat the Humboldt University in Berlin. Dr.Fischer passed away in 1982. Dr. Fischer-Slysh now resides in Toronto.

She is a long-time member of the boardof directors of the Ukrainian MedicalAssociation of North America in Chicago,head of the Friends of the AcademicGymnasium in the Diaspora, and a board

member of the Canadian Society of theFriends of Ukraine. She is also a member ofthe Shevchenko Scientific Society and theLeague of Ukrainian Philanthropists.

A generous donor to numerous scholarlyundertakings in Ukraine and Canada, she hasmade the largest donation in the history ofthe Ukrainian Catholic University, an institu-tion that is cooperating with CIUS in thenew Petro Jacyk Program for the Study ofModern Society and History. In addition tothis volume, Dr. Fischer-Slysh is sponsoringthe publication of Volume 5 of Hrushevskyshistory.

This tome, in which Hrushevsky analyzesthe last two years of Hetman Khmelnytskysrule, consists of the final chapters (1013) ofVolume 9. Hrushevsky presents the mostcomprehensive discussion to date ofKhmelnytskys foreign policy in the after-math of the Treaty of Pereiaslav (1654), atopic closed to research in Soviet Ukrainefrom the 1930s to the 1980s.

He also discusses Khmelnytskysrenewed efforts to annex the westernUkrainian territories and to control theBelarusian lands conquered by the Kozaks.



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NEWS AND VIEWS

Ukraines courts and the importance of acknowledging precedentsby Bohdan A. Futey

Ukraines Constitutional Court recent-ly overturned the political reform of2004 that had dramatically altered thecountrys system of government. Only a

year and a half prior to that, however, thecourt refused to hear a similar proceduralchallenge to that reform. This change, ofcourse, may cause legal confusion. Infuture decisions, the court should recog-nize the value of consistency that comesfrom respecting and acknowledging priordecisions.

In Europe and around the world, manycountries follow the civil law system,rather than the common law. Commonlaw systems are hierarchical and unified,with a single high court atop the hierar-chy, while civil law judicial systemssometimes lack a unified court systemand instead rely on separate, specializedcourts.

In the present era of globalization,

however, the distinction between the twosystems has become blurred, and com-mon law and civil law countries haveincorporated some shared features. Theaim of either judicial system is to providestability through the consistent applica-tion of the law and adherence to theConstitution, since arbitrary decisionscan instill uncertainty and confusion notonly in legal circles but also among thepeople of a given country and the interna-tional community.

As a common law system, the UnitedStates and its experience with precedentshould therefore be relevant to ensuringconsistency in Ukraines legal system.

In the United States, courts engagewith precedent via the doctrine of staredecisis. Under this doctrine, appellatecourts generally adhere to decisions oftheir own court, although they have thepower to overturn those prior decisions.The United States Supreme Court hasnoted that following precedent promotesthe even-handed, predictable and consis-tent development of legal principles, fos-ters reliance on judicial decisions, andcontributes to the actual and perceivedintegrity of the judicial process. Thecourt also has written that the doctrine isnot an inexorable command and that acourt may correct unworkable orbadly reasoned decisions.

Because judges are not absolutelybound by precedent, courts sometimesconsider the policies of stare decisiswhen ruling on cases. Three of those pol-

icies are relevant here. First, followingprecedent helps to ensure that statutesand rules are interpreted consistently anduniformly. Second, following precedentensures predictable outcomes and dis-courages arbitrary decisions that varyfrom case to case. Third, the doctrine pro-motes judicial efficiency. If, in everycase, a court had to write on a blank slate

when determining the correct rule of law,the judicial system might collapse underthe inevitable delays.

Overturning political reform

The decision of the ConstitutionalCourt of Ukraine on the countrys politi-cal reform is an abrupt change of course.Although the substance of that decisionwas correct, the court should haveexplained in full its reasons for departingfrom its prior, recent rulings on this exactsubject. The failure to do so, and theuncertainty created by the recent deci-sions, threatens legal chaos.

The political reform was passed by theVerkhovna Rada in response to the fraud-ulent presidential run-off election in2004. The reform, embodied in Law No.2222-IV (the Law of Ukraine onAmending the Constitution of Ukraine),constituted a series of amendments toUkraines Constitution. The amendmentsresolved the electoral crisis, but were

hastily adopted and not passed in accor-dance with required constitutional proce-dures. According to a 2005 decision ofthe Constitutional Court, changes in thepolitical system of Ukraine must be sub-mitted to and approved by a national ref-erendum, in addition to all other require-ments.

The political reform of 2004 was neversubject to any such referendum. Manycritics, including this writer believe thatsuch a referendum was required becausethe reform changed the political systemand converted Ukraine from a presiden-tial system into a parliamentary system.

The procedures for adopting the politi-cal reform were challenged as recently as2008. One hundred and two legislators

petitioned the Constitutional Court toreview the procedures for adopting LawNo. 2222, but the court dismissed thechallenge on February 8, 2008. The courtruled that when the law amending theConstitution became effective, its provi-sions were practically incorporated intothe text of the Constitution. Havingbecome effective, the court wrote, theLaw itself is functionless.

The Constitutional Court reversedcourse on September 30, 2010. In deci-sion 20-/2010, the court reviewedthe constitutionality of the procedures foradopting the political reform. Without aproper explanation of why a challengecould now be brought to those proce-dures, the court found Law No. 2222

invalid and restored the provisions of theConstitution of Ukraine that were amend-ed, broadened, or excluded by Law No.2222.

The decision is doubtlessly legitimate,since the procedures for enacting thepolitical reform were unconstitutional.Despite that legitimacy, however, thedecision has a number of far-reachingconsequences.

The decision may undermine the rule oflaw, since the court has now renderedinconsistent decisions. It is a risky practicefor a democratic state to have its highestcourt issue conflicting decisions withoutthoroughly explaining that conflict. Legalreasoning can certainly change over time,but the court should have dealt with andexplicitly invalidated its prior decisions to

avoid legal inconsistency.Not so long ago I commented on the

April 8, 2010, decision of the court con-cerning the possibility of forming a coali-tion by individual defecting deputies inthe Verkhovna Rada. This decisionreversed a decision of September 17,2008, dealing with the formation of coali-tions. Legally, nothing had changedexcept for the government, and the sud-

den reversal raised questions of legitima-cy. The recent change in course also rais-es issues of legal consistency and callsinto question whether the judiciary hasupheld the rule of law.

The substance of the courts decisionrestored the provisions of the 1996Constitution that were changed by LawNo. 2222, but did so without includingspecific directives regarding the legitima-cy of current state institutions. Accordingto the court, reverting to the prior versionof the Constitution ensures constitutionalstability in Ukraine, and guaranteeshuman rights and freedoms, as well as theintegrity, inviolability and consistency ofthe Constitution as the supreme law ofthe land.

Reversion without more, however, alsothrows into question the legitimacy andactivity of all state bodies elected, con-vened or created during the last six years.This may impede future legal relations inthe state, since people are uncertain

which legal entities are legitimate andwhich have been overturned with thedownfall of the political reform. Thecourt should have explained the legalforce of laws and provisions adopted in

accordance with the 2004 Constitution toavoid conflicts between rules of the 1996Constitution and laws adopted after thepolitical reform became effective.

In the coming months, Ukraine willhave to confront one of the most apparentconflicts: elections. When do the parlia-mentary elections and elections to otherstate bodies take place? When will thepresidential election take place? All ofthese officials were elected in accordancewith the procedures established by a lawthat has now been ruled unconstitutional.Will the parliamentary elections be heldin March 2011 (the last Sunday of the lastyear of terms) as foreseen in the 1996Constitution? Furthermore, pursuant tothe 1996 Constitution, national deputieswere elected for a four-year term, and thecurrent composition of the Parliamentwas elected for five years.

Unfortunately, the Constitutional Courtkept silent about these and other ques-tions. Respect for and confidence in the

judiciary hinge on clear decision-making,and i t i s unfor tunate tha t theConstitutional Courts decision on a topicof such national importance left unan-swered questions.

Bohdan A. Futey is a Judge on theUnited States Court of Federal Claims inWashington, appointed by PresidentRonald Reagan in May 1987. JudgeFutey has been active in various rule oflaw and democratization programs inUkraine since 1991. He has participatedin judicial exchange programs, seminars

and workshops, and has been a consul-tant to the working group on UkrainesCons t i tu t ion and the Ukrain ianParliament. He also served as an officialobserver during the parliamentary elec-tions in 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006, andpresidential elections in 1994, 1999,2004 and 2010, and conducted briefingson Ukraines election law and guidelinesfor international observers.

IN THE PRESS: Ukraines leadersUkraine viewpoint: Novelist

Andrey Kurkov, BBC News, January13:

the coming months will certainlybe busy for the countrys state prosecu-tors who have been told to draw up a listof illegal activities carried out by the gov-ernment of former Prime Minister Yulia

Tymoshenko. Yulia Tymoshenko is Mr. [Viktor]Yanukovychs chief political opponent.

Unless her party is destroyed now,and unless she is prevented from standingat the next presidential elections, she willbecome Ukraines next president.

It seems Mr. Yanukovych is littleworried by Western or local views aboutthe situation in the country. He has madeencouraging statements about howUkraine is striving towards the EuropeanUnion, about how Ukrainians will soonbe able to travel to Schengen countrieswithout a visa and about how democracyand free speech will continue to flourishin Ukraine.

But all the while, the president andthose around him are clearly molding aRussian form of government and, if pos-sible, they would like to reform the coun-try into a controlled democracy as inneighboring Russia. While a real opposi-tion exists in the country, this is going tobe very difficult.

Myroslava Gongadze: Yanukovych

team may be more brutal thanKuchma, interview by Oles iaOleshko, Kyiv Post, January 21:

Kyiv Post: On January 13, FreedomHouse published a report saying thatUkraine had lost its democratic achieve-ments. Does it mean that the West hasfinally officially recognized the declineof democratic freedoms and civil libertiesin Ukraine?

Myroslava Gongadze: The West istotally aware of the usurpation of powerby a certain political group that is pursu-ing its own financial interests. The thingis that the Western governments havealready gotten used to the Ukrainianelites political manipulations and, frank-ly speaking, have no desire to interfere inthat process. Of course, the West wouldlike to have Ukraine develop as a demo-

cratic state, but neither Washington norBrussels is going to do the job forUkrainians.

The West respects the peoples will inelecting Yanukovych. But the recentreports on the situation in Ukraine, criti-cal comments from Western experts andeven state officials imply that the

Ukrainian government went too far.Given the situation in authoritarianRussia and Belarus, the West is feelingthat its losing its last hope for democracyand pluralism in Ukraine, which soonmight lead to very sad consequences. Therepressions and prosecutions are becom-ing a bad disease in Ukraine, an abscessthat will burst if not treated.

* * *

KP : Do you see any parallelsbetween Ukraine now and Ukraine of2000?

MG: There are a lot of parallels, but Ihave a feeling that the new authoritiescan and will be even more brutal thanKuchmas regime. Thats why its so dan-

gerous. They are trying to persuade soci-ety that they wont let up any time soon.Was it possible to prevent all these

events that are now taking place raidingof businesses, arrests of opposition lead-ers, crackdown on human rights activistsand political opponents? Yes, but theleaders of the Orange Revolution whopledged to put bandits in jail failed to ful-fill their promise and establish the rule oflaw. Had they done so we would havehad a totally different Ukraine. Thesepeople should blame themselves first ofall.

Will Yanukovych oust nations topoligarchs? by Anders Aslund, KyivPost, January 20:

The economic situation in Ukraine isquite easy to assess. President ViktorYanukovych is fully in charge, and he isquickly consolidating power.

So far he is balancing between twooligarchic groups the so-calledRosUkrEnergo group and the Donetskclan. The big question is whether he willcontinue to do so, or oust the oligarchs to



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to Brussels on January 24 by UzbekPresident Islam Karimov.

Meaningless dialogues

The report notes that defending humanrights may sometimes interfere with othergovernmental interests, adding that if so,they should at least have the courage toadmit it, instead of hiding behind meaning-less dialogues and fruitless quests for coop-eration.

Wenzel Michalski, the communicationsdirector for Human Rights WatchsGermany office, calls this years reportforceful in addressing diplomacy andrights efforts used in the West.

It became very fashionable in the lastcouple of years to prefer dialogue so-called dialogue and silent diplomacy tonaming and shaming. And we think it didnt

do any good for human rights worldwide,Mr. Michalski says. It showed, actually,that talk behind closed doors doesnt lead toany improvement in this area.

European Commission (EC) spokes-woman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen, asked aboutthe HRW report at a news briefing inBrussels on January 24, declined to respondto specific criticisms.

But she said EC President Jos Manuel

Barroso would bring up rights concerns dur-ing the visit by Mr. Karimov.

There is absolutely no question of trad-ing off one interest in exchange for the otheras far as the EU is concerned, she said.

And I think weve had many occasions todemonstrate that. Human rights is non-negotiable.

Mr. Michalski notes, meanwhile, thatWestern criticism tends to be more stridentthe less the country has to offer in terms ofeconomic interests.

So when its up to criticize countrieslike Belarus, for example, the Western pow-ers, the EU, America, all have a very strongvoice. They all expressed their concernsabout the vote-rigging and the threatening ofthe opposition. Why is that? Why are coun-tries like Germany talking strong, and havea strong voice, name and shame humanrights abuses in countries like Belarus andnot, for example, in China? Mr. Michalskiasks.

That is simply because we dont dealwith Belarus so much. We dont make somuch business. Belarus doesnt have anynatural resources which would be interest-ing for us. So its easy to name and shamecountries like these.

Deeply negative

In Russia, Human Rights Watch says, therights climate remains deeply negative

despite some positive rhetoric from theauthorities. It says President DmitryMedvedevs rhetorical commitments to

human rights and the rule of law have notbeen backed by concrete steps to supportcivil society.

The report says rights activists, especiallythose working in the North Caucasusregion, remain vulnerable to harassmentand attacks, including legal prosecution.And despite official pledges to reform thepolice force, the group says a draft lawfalls short of what is necessary to best pre-

(Continued from page 1)

Human Rights... vent human rights violations.The report also says that in Ukraine,rights activists continue to face issues ofcensorship and pressure, despite pledges byPresident Viktor Yanukovych to protect

freedom and media pluralism.On Iran, it says the regime continued touse torture and intimidation to pressure crit-ics and consolidate power amid what itcalled a deepening human rights crisis.

It accuses security forces in Iran of usingtorture to extract confessions, on which thejudiciary relied to sentence to long prisonterms and even death people arrested duringprotests against President MahmudAhmadinejads disputed reelection in 2009.

It said authorities intimidated humanrights lawyers, preventing them from effec-tively representing political detainees.

Human Rights Watch also criticized Iranfor continuing to discriminate against reli-gious minorities, including Sunnis, adher-ents to the banned Bahai faith, Sufis and

Christian converts.

Compiled by RFE/RL with agency

reports.

Copyright 2011, RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted

with the permission of Radio Free Europe/

Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW,

Washington DC 20036; www.rferl.org. (See

http://www.rferl.org/content/human_rights_watch_report_/2285529.html.)

In Ukraine, rights

activists continue

to face issues ofcensorship and

pressure, despite

pledges by Presi-

dent Viktor Yanu-

kovych to protect

freedom and media

pluralism.

Fesenko said indicated an interest in merg-ing forces with the Front of Change for thenext parliamentary elections, which are like-ly to occur in 2012.

On the maidan (Independence Square),thousands of Ukrainians waved blue-and-yellow flags and listened to a concert orga-nized by the Kyiv City State Administration,

which is led by Oleksander Popov of theParty of Regions.

Former Presidents Leonid Kravchuk andLeonid Kuchma joined PresidentYanukovych and Prime Minister MykolaAzarov in attending a formal ceremony andconcert held at the Ukrayina Palace. TheYanukovych administration organized com-memorations throughout Ukraine onJanuary 22.

The government is trying to find its ownformat of humanitarian policy in order toneutralize the blame and criticisms, Mr.Fesenko said. Its a separate issue whetherthats working.

Indeed, the Party of Regions has foundthat money works for most of its supporters.Journalists in Kyiv discovered that many

participants were paid between $15 and

$17.50 by the Party of Regions (led by Mr.Yanukovych) to attend the maidan rally andwave national flags.

Alcohol occasionally works as well. TheUkrainian Weeklys correspondentVolodymyr Musyak reported that an alarm-ing number of participants were intoxicatedat the maidan concert.

The Party of Regions dirty practiceswere displayed on the Internet for the worldto see that night after more than 150 partici-

pants gathered at the party headquarters incentral Kyiv to demand their money forattending the rally.

The same night, leading journalistMustafa Nayem recorded on video howParty of Regions members led by AndriiNadosha, son of national Deputy OlehNadosha paid participants at a Kyiv cafafterwards with the help of lists.

Meanwhile, the Batkivshchyna Partyreported their buses of supporters were yetagain stopped by traffic police and prevent-ed from traveling to the capital from citiestha t inc luded Lviv, Odesa andDnipropetrovsk.

Those illegal methods on the part of thegovernment were expected by the opposi-tion forces, which were more frustrated

with Mr. Yatsenyuks decision to hold a

The administration of President Viktor Yanukovych led a Unity Day commemo-ration on January 22 on Independence Square, which the opposition boycotted.

Thousands attended many of whom were paid.

On St. Sophia Square (from right) are: Batkivschyna PartyChair Yulia Tymoshenko, For Ukraine Party ChairViacheslav Kyrylenko and European Party of Ukraine Chair

Mykola Katerynchuk.

Volodymyr Musyak


Ukraine's Unity Day... separate rally.Theres a moralaspect to the meet-ing on St. SophiaSquare, which wasto a certain extents u p p o s e d t obecome moral sup-port for the opposi-tion thats underpressure from the

government, Mr.Fes enko s a i d .From that moralpoint of view, thereis criticism.

Mr. Yatsenyukheld the separatecommemorationstrictly as a politi-cal tactic to pro-mote his new polit-ical force to thepublic and showthe support hes

Soviet-era political prisoner LevLukianenko addressed the January 22Unity Day commemoration led by for-mer Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko

on St. Sophia Square.

Patriarch Filaret of the UkrainianOrthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate

on St. Sophia Square in Kyiv.

mustered, Mr. Fesenko said. It was notintended to weaken the opposition, thoughsuch accusations were made.

To prove it has none of the antagonism

toward Ms. Tymoshenko that former

President Yushchenko demonstrated, theFront of Change party dispatched one of itsleaders, Ms. Hrynevych, to the event on St.



12/24


Conductor Kirill Karabits debuts with National Symphony Orchestraby Yaro Bihun

Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

WASHINGTON It was an excep-tional debut performance for the youngUkrainian conductor Kirill Karabits withthe National Symphony Orchestra, and hepresented himself to the Washingtonaudience in an appropriately unique fash-ion.

The first selection on the concert pro-gram performed at the John F. KennedyCenter for three evenings, January 13-15,was Valentin Silvestrovs Elegy forStrings.

Not only was it the NSOs first perfor-mance of any piece by this contemporaryUkrainian composer, it carried a specialmeaning with Karabits as conductor. Theorigin of Silvestrovs piece was an unfin-ished musical sketch penned by compos-er-conductor Ivan Karabits, Kirillsfather.

As Kirill Karabits recalled in an inter-view on the Voice of America Ukrainiantelevision program Chas-Time after thefirst performance, he and Mr. Silvestrov

found the sketches in his fathers note-book upon his death in 2002. Mr.Silvestrov promised to complete it, did so

within a matter of days, and dedicated itto his father.

Rather than coming to the NSO witha bang, Karabits came with a personal,even intimate touch, was how TheWashington Post music critic AnneMidgette characterized it.

In her review, Ms. Midgette also point-ed to another unusual aspect of theKarabits debut. Long-known for having aRussian association, at least from thetime Mstislav Rostropovich was themusic director of the National Symphony,she said, Russian is a misnomer forthree of the (Karabits) programs fourinnovations. She pointed out that the34-year-old conductor is Ukrainian, as isthe composer Mr. Silvestrov, and the soloviolinist playing in Dmitri ShostakovichsViolin Concerto No. 2, Op. 129, SergeyKachatryan, is Armenian.

After intermission, the program con-cluded with Jean Sibelius Symphony No.1 in E minor, Op. 39.

The Washington audience rewardedthe performers enthusiastically and withstanding ovations throughout the three

concerts.Asked in the VOA interview if he con-

siders himself a Ukrainian conductor, Mr.

Natalia Motsyk, wife of Ukraines ambassador to the United States, greeted con-ductor Kirill Karabits with flowers after his debut series of performances with

the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington.

Yaro Bihun

Karabits said that, of course, he isUkrainian. But to be successful, aUkrainian artist must also become a manof the world. One must learn foreignlanguages, travel and play Ukrainianmusic abroad, discuss it, and do so intel-ligently. Then they will become interest-ed.

And who should be doing this if notI, he added.

Kirill Karabits, now in his second sea-son as the principal conductor of theBournemouth Symphony Orchestra inBritain, began studying conducting andcomposition in Kyiv, at the LysenkoMusic School and the Tchaikovsky MusicAcademy. Since then, he has been guest

conductor with numerous Europeanorchestras, among them the LondonPhilharmonic, the BBC SymphonyOrchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, theDanish National Symphony, theAmsterdam Concer tgebauw, theRotterdan Philharmonic and the BerlinKonzerthaus.

Since his North American debut with theHouston Symphony in 2009, he has alsoconducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic,the Minnesota Orchestra, and a weekbefore coming to Washington the SanFrancisco Symphony, where the headline tothe review in the San Francisco Chroniclecharacterized his appearance as a Granddebut.

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13/24


Pianist Anna Shelest: An appealing freshness of spiritby Helen Smindak

NEW YORK Id been told by two orthree fellow New Yorkers that Ukrainian-born pianist Anna Shelest was an artist towatch, a musician who was on the way tobecoming a standout in New York musiccircles.

I had also heard that the Cincinnati

Enquirer noted she plays with an appeal-ing freshness of spirit, and the CincinnatiPost described her as the most excitingyoung pianist to have appeared inCincinnati in recent years. TheTwentsche Courant Tubantia in theNetherlands called her a keyboard lion-ess.

I learned firsthand of Ms. Shelests tal-ents when I heard her solo performancelast month at the Golden Key MusicInstitute, interpreting Moussorgskys mas-terful work Pictures at an Exhibition, apiano suite of 10 passages illustratingsketches and watercolors created by hisclose friend, the architect and sometimespainter Victor Hartmann.

The piece reflects the mood of each

painting, opening with a promenadetheme that re-emerges throughout as atransition amid the changing moods of thevarious pictures. Through the composerspicturesque writing, the pianist achievesmystery, frenzy, humor and grandeur.

Ms. Shelest was in her element as herfingers flew gracefully over the keyboard,conjuring up visions of a gnome-shapednutcracker in a mad dance, a troubadorsinging a doleful lament outside an ancientcastle, children quarreling at play in apark, a lumbering wooden ox-cart andpeeping chicks hatching from their shells.

With finesse and sensitivity, she por-trayed an argument between two Jews, onewealthy and vain, the other poor and gar-rulous, shrill women vendors in a bustling

marketplace, the eerie gloom of catacombsbeneath the streets of Paris and the crazedflight of the folklore witch Baba Yaga.

In the final movement, The Great Gateof Kiev, Ms. Shelest re-created the blaz-ing glory of a grand and stately processionpassing through the archway, accompaniedby the jubilant pealing of church bells.

The offspring of a Ukrainian motherand a Ukrainian-Russian father, Ms.Shelest gained her consummate piano art-istry through studies in prime schools inUkraine and the U.S., outstanding teach-ers, an active concert career and dailypractice sessions. She graduated fromNew Yorks prestigious Juilliard School inthe spring of 2010 and made her NewYork debut the same year in recitals atAlice Tully Hall and Stern Auditorium atCarnegie Hall.

Her repertoire of solo, concert andensemble works, from baroque to contem-porary, includes a gamut of composers Bach and Beethoven pieces toTchaikovsky tudes and the UkrainianRhapsody of composer Oleksandr Zhuk.

She won first prize at several interna-tional competitions in recent years, includ-i ng t he 2009 B r ads haw - B uonoInternational Piano Competition in NewYork, the 2005 Kawai AmericanRecording Contest and the 2005 LouisianaInternational Piano Competition.

She has recorded two CDs an all-Rachmaninoff CD featuring his tudes-Tableaux, Op. 39, and Moments-Musicaux, op.16, and Beyond

Oblivion, a collaborative recording withCleveland Symphony Orchestra trombon-ist Cristian Ganicenco.

All of this came to light as she and herhandsome husband and manager, DmitriSarnov, chatted with me over lunch at acheery midtown restaurant, a pleasantinterlude from the frenzy of a metropolitancity dealing with the aftermath of the bliz-zard of 2010.

Anna Shelest

Cathy Lions

as an outstanding senior in the College ofArts and Sciences. Upon graduation with aBachelor of Music degree, she moved to

Cincinnati to study privately for a yearwith professors from the CincinnatiConservatory of Music, Elizabeth andEugene Pridonoff.

Ms. Shelest and Mr. Sarnov were closefriends and classmates at NorthernKentucky University; in fact, theyveknown each other since middle school.Over the years, their friendship blossomedinto romance, and they were married inMarch 2007 in the U.S. In July 2010, theytravelled to Ukraine for a traditionalchurch wedding, with all family memberspresent for the celebration.

N ow m ak i ng t he i r hom e onManhattans Upper West Side, the coupleenjoys a vibrant lifestyle. Ms. Shelest con-tinues her appearances as a performing art-

ist, attends rehearsals and teaches private-ly. Its a constantly changing schedule,always something new, she said. Mr.Sarnov is president of DSW Worldwide,an organization specializing in careermanagement for classical musicians.

They travel to Ukraine each summer tovisit their families. Wed like to go moreoften, but our schedules dont allow it,Mr. Sarnov said.

Ms. Shelest is delighted that her pianoexpertise has taken her to some of theworlds greatest stages, including Carnegie

Hall, the Palacio de Bellas Artes inMexico City and the Great Hall ofMoscow Conservatory. Her career encom-passes solo performances with some of theworlds most renowned orchestras theNetherland Symphony, the St. PetersburgPhilharmonic and the Montreal Symphony as well as orchestras in Cincinnati,Corpus Christi, Florida, Kentucky andCalifornia.

She said she likes to perform in asmany kinds of music as I can; solo recitalsare probably my favorite, because youreally have enormous freedom whenyoure on a stage by yourself, but there isso much great music written for piano inan orchestra and collaborative piano, aswell as chamber music, that I like to take

part in everything.Preparation for performances calls for

some practical decisions in selectingstage apparel, Ms. Shelest said, becauseI try to choose a gown that matches themood of a piece, or the formality of theoccasion, and I also need to be comfort-able while Im seated at the piano. Forall performances, she likes to wear herhair up and arranged in a chignon at the

nape of her neck so it wont fly into myface and eyes when Im playing.Coincidentally, the sophisticated hairdo

and stylish gowns admirably flatter herslender, 5-foot-10 figure.

Whenever theres time, she likes tocook. I find it very relaxing, and its verysatisfying to blend various ingredients andcome up with a finished product, shecommented. But trying to duplicate dishesher grandmother frequently served issometimes frustrating. Grandma used tosay, a little bit of salt, a little bit of sugar my mom is the same but I need to knowexactly how much in order to make thedish.

Currently awaiting the release of a newCD that includes Moussorgskys Picturesat an Exhibition and Tchaikovsky andGlinka pieces, Ms. Shelest said she wasalso looking forward to her next perfor-

mance, a January 23 collaboration with thewinners of a vocal competition atCarnegie Halls Weill Auditorium.

Mr. Sarnov said a recital at a distin-guished New York venue is in the offing,but this is still a nebulous event thatrequires serious thought and planning.When it happens, it will undoubtedly beanother triumph in Ms. Shelests burgeon-ing career.

Early piano studies

A poised, elegantyoung woman whospoke with a charmingaccent, Ms. Shelest mod-estly reviewed her earlymusical experiences: shebegan piano studies at

the age of 6 when heraunt, who lived in Paris,bought a piano for her.(Not everyone washappy about it, she said,because the instrumenttook up so much spacein the familys smallapartment.)

With her mothersencouragement and apiano teachers guid-ance, she was soon readyto enter the KharkivSpecial Music Schoolfor Gifted Children,where she studied withGary Gelfat and Sergei

Polusmiak.At 11, as the youngestprize-winner of theM i l o s z M a g i nInternat ional PianoCompetition, she per-formed at the winnersconcert at UNESCOHeadquarters in Paris,her first experience on alarge stage. It was thebiggest hall I had beento, it was huge and thepiano seemed so little; itwas so unusual to be inthe center of such a largeplace, with so many peo-ple looking at you, sherecalled. The followingyear, she made herorchestral debut with theKharkiv SymphonyOrches t ra , p layingRachmaninoffs PianoConcerto No.1.

When her familymoved to the U.S. in1999, she enrolled atNor thern KentuckyUniversity, where shewon numerous scholar-ships and awards ,including the RegentsAward, and recognition


14/24


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NEWSBRIEFS power in Ukraine. Mr. Lutsenko saidthat the goal of the current authorities isto destroy their political opponents andestablish an atmosphere of fear in orderto rob the country and the people withoutany obstacles. Mr. Lutsenko called onUkrainians to unite, and added that theresistance of people is the only thing theauthorities are afraid of. He said, Thependulum of Ukrainian history hasswung into a dark time. It all depends on

the ability of Ukrainians to protect theirfamilies, their souls and their history.Dont lose your heart! Dont be silent!We are united! he said. On December13, 2010, Mr. Lutsenko and his formerdriver Leonid Prystupliuk were chargedwith large-scale embezzlement of stateproperty worth 360,000 hrv, as well asthe abuse of power and the use of forgeddocuments. On December 26 Mr.Lutsenko was detained near his house.On December 27 the Pecherskyi DistrictCourt of Kyiv ordered Mr. Lutsenko to bejailed for two months. On December 28 itbecame known that Mr. Lutsenko hadbeen moved from a Security Service ofUkraine (SBU) prison to LukianivkaPrison No. 13. On January 17 Lutsenkoslawyer Ihor Fomin filed a complaint tothe European Court of Human Rightscharging that Mr. Lutsenkos arrest wasillegal. (Interfax-Ukraine)

Investigator denies Tymoshenkos request

KYIV An investigator with theProcurator Generals Office (PGO), saidon January 25 that the request of the ex-prime minister and leader of theBatkivschyna party, Yulia Tymoshenko,for permission to travel to Brussels wasdenied since she presented the invitationwithout proper clearance. Allowing exitto a person who is under house arrest isnot a duty but a right of the investigator,that is, his direct procedural compe-tence, the liaison department of theProcurator Generals Office reported. Theinvestigator also did not grant Ms.Tymoshenkos appeal to close the crimi-nal case opened against her on charges ofcommitting a serious crime under Part 3,Article 365 of the Criminal Code (abuseof power or official authority, resulting ingrave consequences). The departmentalso noted that Ms. Tymoshenkos charg-es against prosecutors are nothing but anattempt to put pressure on the investiga-tion and to discredit it. Investigators ofthe PGO on January 17 reopened thecriminal case against Ms. Tymoshenko ather request and on the appeal of her attor-ney. In D

The Ukrainian Weekly 2011-05

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