[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 81 (Monday, June 10, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4061-S4062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 165--CALLING FOR THE RELEASE FROM PRISON OF FORMER 
   PRIME MINISTER OF UKRAINE YULIA TYMOSHENKO IN LIGHT OF THE RECENT 
                 EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS RULING

  Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. Rubio, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Barrasso, and Mr. 
Murphy) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations.

                              S. Res. 165

       Whereas, in August 1991, the Ukrainian Parliament declared 
     independence from the Soviet Union and approved decrees to 
     mint its own currency and take command of all Soviet military 
     units on its soil;
       Whereas, in December 1991, 90 percent of Ukrainians voted 
     in a referendum to support independence from the Soviet 
     Union;
       Whereas Ukraine has experienced increased economic and 
     political cooperation with Europe and the United States since 
     its independence from the Soviet Union;
       Whereas, in 1996, Ukraine adopted its first democratic 
     constitution that included basic freedoms of speech, 
     assembly, religion, and press;
       Whereas in 2004, Ukrainians organized a series of historic 
     protests, strikes, and sit-ins known as the ``Orange 
     Revolution'' to protest electoral fraud in the 2004 
     presidential election;
       Whereas Yulia Tymoshenko was a leader of the Orange 
     Revolution and was first elected as Prime Minister in 2005;
       Whereas, in the 2010 presidential election, incumbent 
     President Viktor Yushchenko won only 5.5 percent in the first 
     round of voting, which left former Prime Minister Viktor 
     Yanukovich and then Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to face 
     one another in a run-off election;
       Whereas Mr. Yanukovich defeated Ms. Tymoshenko by a margin 
     of 49 percent to 44 percent;
       Whereas, on October 11, 2011, Ms. Tymoshenko was found 
     guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison on charges that 
     she abused her position as Prime Minister in connection with 
     a Russian natural gas contract;
       Whereas, on January 26, 2012, the Parliamentary Assembly 
     Council of Europe (PACE) passed a resolution (1862) that 
     declared that the articles under which Ms. Tymoshenko was 
     convicted were ``overly broad in application and effectively 
     allow for ex post facto criminalization of normal political 
     decision making'';
       Whereas, on May 30, 2012, the European Parliament passed a 
     resolution (C153/21) deploring the sentencing of Ms. 
     Tymoshenko;
       Whereas, on September 22, 2012, the United States Senate 
     passed a resolution (S. Res 466, 112th Congress) that 
     condemned the selective and politically motivated prosecution 
     and imprisonment of Yulia Tymoshenko, called for her release, 
     and called on the Department of State to institute a visa ban 
     against those responsible for the imprisonment of Ms. 
     Tymoshenko and the other political leaders associated with 
     the 2004 Orange Revolution;
       Whereas, on April 7, 2013, President of Ukraine Viktor 
     Yanukovich pardoned former interior minister Yuri Lutsenko 
     and several other opposition figures allied with Ms. 
     Tymoshenko;
       Whereas, on April 30, 2013, the European Court of Human 
     Rights, which settles cases of rights abuses after plaintiffs 
     have exhausted appeals in their home country courts, ruled 
     that Ms. Tymoshenko's pre-trial detention had been arbitrary; 
     that the lawfulness of her detention had not been properly 
     reviewed; that her right to liberty had been restricted; and, 
     that she had no possibility to seek compensation for her 
     unlawful deprivation of liberty;
       Whereas, on April 30, 2013, Department of State Spokesman 
     Patrick Ventrell reiterated the United States call that Ms. 
     Tymoshenko ``be released and that the practice of selective 
     prosecution end immediately'' in light of the European Court 
     of Human Rights decision;
       Whereas Ukraine hopes to sign an association agreement with 
     the European Union during the Eastern Partnership Summit in 
     November 2013; and
       Whereas, after the European Court of Human Rights ruling, 
     European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs chairman 
     Elmar Brok stated that ``Ukraine is still miles away from 
     fulfilling European standards'' and must ``end its selective 
     justice'' before signing the association agreement: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) calls on the Government of Ukraine to release former 
     Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko from imprisonment in light of 
     the April 2013 European Court of Human Rights verdict;
       (2) calls on the European Union members to include the 
     release of Ms. Tymoshenko from imprisonment as an important 
     criterion for signing an association agreement with Ukraine 
     at the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit in Lithuania;
       (3) expresses its belief and hope that Ukraine's future 
     rests with stronger ties to Europe, the United States, and 
     others in the community of democracies; and
       (4) expresses its concern and disappointment that the 
     continued selective and politically motivated imprisonment of 
     former

[[Page S4062]]

     Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko unnecessarily detracts from 
     Ukraine's otherwise strong relationship with Europe, the 
     United States, and the community of democracies.

                          ____________________