[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 117 (Friday, September 24, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1705]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMEN'S MONITORING DELEGATION TO UKRAINE JULY 
                       REPORT--EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 23, 2004

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I am submitting the following article for 
the Record.

       Significant irregularities and improprieties have been 
     found in the on-going presidential campaign in Ukraine by an 
     election monitoring delegation of former Members of Congress 
     in the Kharkiv, Poltava, and Sumy oblasts.
       Five former U.S. Congressmen--John Conlan (R-AZ), Arlen 
     Erdahl (R-MN), Jack Hightower (D-TX), Gregory Laughlin (R-
     TX), Andrew Maguire (D-NJ), and Tom Sawyer (D-OH)--traveled 
     to Ukraine on July 25-31, 2004 to monitor presidential 
     election campaign activities in the region. The communities 
     visited were: Kupiansk, Merefa, and Vovchansk in the Kharkiv 
     oblast; Chutove, Dykanka and Karlivka in the Poltava oblast; 
     and Lebedyn, Okhtyrka and Trostianets in the Sumy oblast. 
     These former congressmen were registered by the Central 
     Election Commission (CEC) of Ukraine and accorded all the 
     rights and privileges provided to foreign observers by 
     Ukraine's law on presidential elections.
       Ukraine is a signatory of the Organization for Security and 
     Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and therefore welcomes 
     international observers to help secure a free and fair 
     election. The congressmen's election monitoring activities 
     included meetings with representatives of the main political 
     parties, Ukrainian government officials, Central Election 
     Committee, and U.S. officials in Kyiv. In the regions, the 
     congressmen met with local government officials, 
     representatives of NGOs, political parties, the media, and 
     citizens, who shared their views and experiences of the 
     political process in their respective communities.


key findings of the first delegation to the Kharkiv, Poltava, and Sumy 
                                oblasts

       Generally, in the communities visited, local officials were 
     very cooperative and generously shared their time and 
     opinions with the delegation. Local officials provided space 
     for meetings and assisted in extending invitations to 
     representatives of political parties, media, and NGOs to meet 
     with the delegation. The delegation does note, however, that 
     there were occasions when opposition parties were not 
     informed of the meetings and, thus, were denied an 
     opportunity to express their views and have their respective 
     cases heard.
       In conversations with participants in the meetings attended 
     and in conversations with ordinary Ukrainian citizens, the 
     delegation was appalled to find that an overwhelming number 
     do not expect the outcome of the election to be fairly 
     decided. Those that hold this view often reply that the 
     outcome has already been determined and that the vote count 
     will support that determination. Independent polls verify 
     that around 70 percent of the population believes this. That 
     reinforces the view that every effort must be made by 
     observers to ensure that the vote count is accurate and fair.
       While the delegation cannot investigate the allegations 
     made, it does note with deep concern the repeated allegations 
     of the systematic use of the government's administrative 
     resources to bring pressure upon voters to support the 
     candidate endorsed by government authorities. These reports 
     are too numerous, consistent, and from too many different 
     locations to be set aside; in fact they appear to the 
     delegation to constitute a pattern of officially sanctioned 
     political activity by government employees that is in 
     violation of Ukraine's law on presidential elections.
       The delegation is very concerned about these reports and 
     appeals to the Ukrainian government to ensure that all local 
     government officials strictly adhere to the law. Allegations 
     include: threats regarding loss of jobs predominate; police 
     preventing buses and automobiles from traveling to opposition 
     rallies; forcing government workers, teachers, and hospital 
     workers to sign petitions for pro-government candidate, 
     Viktor Yanukovych; forcing regional councils to pass 
     resolutions in support of Yanukovych; teachers and 
     agricultural workers given quotas to collect signatures for 
     Yanukovych, under threat to lose vacation time or jobs; 
     students pressured to distribute Yanukovych literature; even 
     patients have been threatened with discharge from hospitals 
     and denial of medical services if they fail to sign and 
     pledge to vote for Yanukovych.
       In every community the delegation visited, they were 
     greeted with hope and anticipation of a brighter tomorrow. 
     They welcomed contact with the wider world and were anxious 
     to host foreign visitors to show off their country and its 
     potential. They deserve an opportunity to go to the polls and 
     freely express their views and to be secure in the knowledge 
     that all their votes are counted accurately in accordance 
     with the law of Ukraine.
       The delegation is a fact-finding mission and will report 
     its findings to Ukraine's Central Election Commission, the 
     U.S. Government, European governments, international 
     organizations and the public through release to the mass 
     media. The delegation does not support any candidate or 
     political party and is only interested in helping ensure that 
     the presidential election is free and fair.
       Programming is organized by the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation 
     (USUF), in partnership with the U.S. Association of Former 
     Members of Congress (USAFMC) and is funded by the United 
     States Agency for International Development (USAID).
       The Foundation's second delegation traveled in August to 
     the Cherkasy, Kyiv, and Kirovohrad oblasts and also included 
     parliamentarians from Spain and the Netherlands. The third 
     delegation, comprised of congressmen and a former member of 
     the German Bundestag, traveled to the Kherson region during 
     the week of September 19-25, 2004 to observe election 
     campaign activities in the Kherson, Mykolayiv, and 
     Zaporizhzhya oblasts.

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