[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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