[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 129 (Friday, September 21, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6665-S6666]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CALLING FOR THE RELEASE FROM PRISON OF FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF UKRAINE 
                            YULIA TYMOSHENKO

  Mr. PRYOR. I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the 
immediate consideration of Calendar No. 526, S. Res. 466.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 466) calling for the release from 
     prison of former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution which had been reported from the Committee on Foreign 
Relations with an

[[Page S6666]]

amendment and an amendment to the preamble, as follows:

       [Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the part 
     printed in italic.]
       [Strike the preamble and insert the part printed in 
     italic.]

                              S. Res. 466

       Whereas Ukraine has experienced encouraging growth and 
     reforms since it declared its independence from the former 
     Soviet Union in 1991 and adopted its first constitution in 
     1996;
       Whereas the 1996 constitution provided basic freedoms like 
     the freedom of speech, assembly, religion, and press, but was 
     ultimately too weak to contain the existing corruption-laced 
     political culture inherited from its communist past;
       Whereas, as a result of the electoral fraud by which Prime 
     Minister Viktor Yanukovych was declared the winner of the 
     2004 presidential election, the citizens of the Ukraine 
     organized a series of protests, strikes, and sit-ins, which 
     came to be known as ``The Orange Revolution'';
       Whereas the Orange Revolution, in concert with 
     international pressure, forced an unprecedented second run-
     off election, which resulted in opposition leader Viktor 
     Yushchenko defeating Mr. Yanukovych by a margin of 52 percent 
     to 44 percent;
       Whereas, in the 2010 presidential election, incumbent 
     Yushchenko won only 5.5 percent in the first round of voting, 
     which left former Prime Minister Yanukovych and then Prime 
     Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to face one another in the run-off 
     election;
       Whereas, Mr. Yanukovych defeated Ms. Tymoshenko by a margin 
     of 49 percent to 44 percent;
       Whereas, shortly after the 2010 inauguration of Mr. 
     Yanukovych, the Ukrainian Constitutional Court found most of 
     the 2004 Orange Revolution inspired constitutional reforms 
     unconstitutional;
       Whereas, in 2010, President Yanukovych appointed Viktor 
     Pshonka Prosecutor General;
       Whereas, since Mr. Pshonka's appointment, more than a dozen 
     political leaders associated with the 2004 Orange Revolution 
     have faced criminal charges under the Abuse of Office and 
     Exceeding Official Powers articles of the Ukrainian Criminal 
     Code;
       Whereas, in 2011, Prosecutor General Pshonka brought 
     charges under these Abuse of Office articles against former 
     Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko over her decision while in 
     office to conclude a natural gas contract between Ukraine and 
     Russia;
       Whereas, on October 11, 2011, Ms. Tymoshenko was found 
     guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison, fined 
     $189,000,000, and banned from holding public office for three 
     years following the completion of her sentence;
       Whereas, recognizing the judicial abuses present in 
     Ukraine, the Parliamentary Assembly Council of Europe (PACE) 
     passed Resolution 1862 on January 26, 2012;
       Whereas Resolution 1862 declared that the Abuse of Office 
     and Exceeding Official Powers articles under which Ms. 
     Tymoshenko was convicted are ``overly broad in application 
     and effectively allow for ex post facto criminalization of 
     normal political decision making'';
       Whereas, since Ms. Tymoshenko's imprisonment, the 
     Prosecutor General's Office has reopened additional cases 
     against her that were previously closed and thought to be 
     sealed under a 10-year statute of limitations;
       Whereas, beginning on October 28, 2011, and multiple times 
     since, Ukrainian Deputy Prosecutor General Renat Kuzmin has 
     alleged in television interviews that Tymoshenko was involved 
     in contract killings, but has filed no formal charges;
       Whereas, for much of Ms. Tymoshenko's detention, she had 
     limited outside contact and access to needed medical 
     treatment;
       Whereas international calls for Ms. Tymoshenko's release, 
     access to outside visitors, and adequate medical treatment 
     were initially ignored even as her health continued to 
     deteriorate;
       Whereas, on April 28, 2012, major international news 
     organizations, including the British Broadcast Corporation 
     and Reuters, reported on and produced photos of bruises 
     allegedly received by Ms. Tymoshenko from prison guards on 
     April 20, 2012;
       Whereas, in response to her inhumane treatment, Ms. 
     Tymoshenko began a hunger strike on April 20, 2012;
       Whereas, amid international outrage, the European Union has 
     delayed indefinitely the signing of a free trade agreement 
     with Ukraine;
       Whereas, under international pressure, Ms. Tymoshenko was 
     moved to a hospital in Kharkiv on May 9, 2012, prompting her 
     to end her hunger strike, yet leaving her in poor health; and
       Whereas on May 30, 2012, the European Parliament passed a 
     resolution (C153/21) deploring the sentencing of Ms. 
     Tymoshenko: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) condemns the selective and politically motivated 
     prosecution and imprisonment of former Prime Minister Yulia 
     Tymoshenko;
       (2) expresses its deep concern that the politicized 
     prosecutions and continued detention of Ms. Tymoshenko and 
     other members of her party took place in a country that is 
     scheduled to assume chairmanship of the Organization for 
     Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2013;
       (3) expresses its deep concern that the continued detention 
     of Ms. Tymoshenko threatens to jeopardize ties between the 
     United States and Ukraine;
       (4) calls for the Government of Ukraine to release Ms. 
     Tymoshenko, to provide her with timely access to medical 
     care, and to conduct the October parliamentary elections in a 
     fair and transparent manner consistent with OSCE standards; 
     and
       (5) calls on the Department of State to institute a visa 
     ban against those responsible for the imprisonment and 
     mistreatment of Ms. Tymoshenko and the more than dozen 
     political leaders associated with the 2004 Orange Revolution.

  Mr. PRYOR. I further ask that the Durbin amendment which is at the 
desk be agreed to, the committee-reported substitute amendment, as 
amended, be agreed to, and the Senate immediately proceed to a voice 
vote on adoption of the resolution, as amended.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 2863) was agreed to, as follows:

       On page 9, strike lines 1 through 14 and insert the 
     following:
       (2) expresses its deep concern that the politicized nature 
     of prosecutions and detention of Ms. Tymoshenko and other 
     members of her party took place in a country that is 
     scheduled to assume chairmanship of the Organization for 
     Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2013;
       (3) expresses its deep concern that the politicized 
     detention of Ms. Tymoshenko threatens to jeopardize ties 
     between the United States and Ukraine;
       (4) calls for the Government of Ukraine to release Ms. 
     Tymoshenko from her current incarceration based on 
     politicized charges, to provide Ms. Tymoshenko with timely 
     access to medical care, and to conduct the October 
     parliamentary elections in a fair and transparent manner 
     consistent with OSCE standards; and

  The question is on agreeing to the committee-reported substitute 
amendment, as amended.
  The committee-reported substitute amendment, as amended, was agreed 
to.
  Mr. PRYOR. I further ask the committee-reported amendment to the 
preamble be agreed to; the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; the 
motions to reconsider be laid upon the table with no intervening action 
or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment to the preamble was agreed to.
  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  (The resolution will be printed in a future edition of the Record.)

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