[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 124 (Friday, October 6, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   MISSING JOURNALIST IN THE UKRAINE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 5, 2000

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, it has been almost three weeks 
since the highly disturbing disappearance of Heorhii Gongadze, a 
journalist known for his articles exposing corruption in the Ukraine 
and for playing a prominent role in defending media freedoms. Mr. 
Gongadze, whose visit to the United States last December included 
meetings with the Helsinki Commission staff, was publisher of a new 
Internet newspaper called Ukrainska Pravda (meaning Ukrainian Truth), a 
publication often critical of senior Ukrainian officials and their 
associates. In fact, shortly before he vanished, Mr. Gongadze had 
apparently been facing pressure and threats and had complained that 
police were harassing him and his colleagues at Ukrainska Pravda.
  Unfortunately, Mr. Gongadze's disappearance takes place in an 
increasingly unhealthy media environment. According to the Committee to 
Protect Journalists, his disappearance follows several suspect or 
inconclusive investigations into the suspicious deaths of several 
Ukrainian journalists over the last few years and the beatings of two 
journalists following their articles about official corruption this 
year. This disappearance has occurred within an environment which has 
made it increasingly difficult for professional journalists to operate, 
including harassment by tax police, criminal libel prosecutions, the 
denial of access to state-controlled newsprint and printing presses, 
and phone calls to editors suggesting that they censure certain 
stories. Such an atmosphere clearly has a chilling effect on press 
freedom.
  Mr. Speaker, I am encouraged that the Verkhovna Rada--the Ukraine's 
parliament--has formed a special ad hoc committee to investigate Mr. 
Gongadze's disappearance. I am also hopeful that the Ukraine's Ministry 
of Internal Affairs and other law enforcement agencies will conduct a 
serious, vigorous investigation to solve the case of this missing 
journalist.
  As Chairman of the Helsinki Commission and as someone who has a 
longstanding interest in the Ukraine, I am deeply disappointed that the 
Ukraine's relatively positive human rights record has been tarnished by 
an environment not conducive to the development of a free media. I 
remain hopeful that the Ukrainian authorities will make every effort to 
reverse this situation.

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