BRAMA, Nov 19, 2004, 12:00 pm ET
Senate passes new resolution urging urges Government of Ukraine to ensure a democratic, transparent, and fair run-off election
S.RES.473: A resolution urging the Government of Ukraine to ensure a democratic, transparent, and fair election process for the Presidential run-off election on November 21, 2004.
Passed/agreed to in Senate.
Status: Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.
Sponsor: Sen McCain, John [R-AZ] (introduced 11/18/2004)
Sen Biden Jr., Joseph R. [D-DE] - 11/18/2004
Sen Graham, Lindsey O. [D-SC] - 11/18/2004
Sen Hagel, Chuck [R-NE] - 11/18/2004
Sen Lieberman, Joseph I. [D-CT] - 11/18/2004
Sen Lugar, Richard G. [R-IN] - 11/18/2004
Sen Smith, Gordon [R-OR] - 11/18/2004
108TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION S. RES. 473
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
RESOLUTION
Urging the Government of Ukraine to ensure a democratic,
transparent, and fair election process for the Presidential
run-off election on November 21, 2004.
Whereas the establishment of a democratic, transparent, and
fair election process for the 2004 Presidential election in
Ukraine and of a genuinely democratic political system
are prerequisites for that country’s full integration into
the Western community of nations as an equal member,
including into organizations such as the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO);
Whereas the Government of Ukraine has accepted numerous
specific commitments governing the conduct of elections
as a participating state of the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), including provisions
of the Copenhagen Document;
Whereas the election of Ukraine’s next President will provide
an unambiguous test of the extent of the Ukrainian authorities
commitment to implement these standards and
build a democratic society based on free elections and the
rule of law;
Whereas the second round of the Presidential election takes
place against the backdrop of past elections and improprieties
in the first round of the election, which did not
fully meet international standards;
Whereas it is the duty of government and public authorities
of Ukraine at all levels to act in a manner consistent with
all laws and regulations governing election procedures,
and to ensure free and fair elections throughout the entire
country, including preventing activities aimed at undermining
the free exercise of political rights;
Whereas a genuinely free and fair election requires a period
of political campaigning conducted in an environment in
which administrative action, violence, intimidation, or detention
do not hinder the parties, political associations,
and the candidates from presenting their views and qualifications
to the citizenry, including organizing supporters,
conducting public meetings and events throughout the
country, and enjoying unimpeded access to television,
radio, print, and Internet media on a non-discriminatory
basis;
Whereas a genuinely free and fair election requires that citizens
be guaranteed the right and effective opportunity to
exercise their civil and political rights, including the right
to vote and the right to seek and acquire information
upon which to make an informed vote, free from intimidation,
undue influence, attempts at vote buying, threats
of political retribution, or other forms of coercion by national
or local authorities or others;
Whereas a genuinely free and fair election requires government
and public authorities to ensure that candidates
and political parties enjoy equal treatment before the law
and that government resources are not employed to the
advantage of individual candidates or political parties;
Whereas a genuinely free and fair election requires the full
transparency of laws and regulations governing elections,
multiparty representation on election commissions, and
unobstructed access by candidates, political parties, and
domestic and international observers to all election procedures,
including voting and vote counting in all areas of
the country;
Whereas increasing control and manipulation of the media by
national and local officials and others acting at their behest
raise grave concerns regarding the commitment of
the Ukrainian authorities to free and fair elections;
Whereas efforts by the national authorities in Ukraine to
limit access to international broadcasting, including
Radio Liberty and the Voice of America, represent an unacceptable
infringement on the right of the Ukrainian
people to independent information;
Whereas efforts by national and local officials of Ukraine and
others acting at their behest to impose obstacles to free
assembly, free speech, and a free and fair political campaign
have taken place in Donetsk, Sumy, and elsewhere
in Ukraine without condemnation or remedial action by
the Government of Ukraine;
Whereas numerous substantial irregularities have taken place
in recent Ukrainian parliamentary by-elections in the
Donetsk region and in mayoral elections in Mukacheve,
Romny, and Krasniy Luch;
Whereas intimidation and violence and fraud during the April
18, 2004, mayoral election in Mukacheve, Ukraine, represent
a deliberate attack on the democratic process;
Whereas in the period leading to the first round of the Presidential
election, the government power structures used
state resources such as schools, state factories, hospitals,
and public transport systems to force students, state
workers, and citizens who rely on state services for their
livelihood to campaign against their will for the government-backed candidate;
Whereas there was notable partisan engagement of security
services, military, and local police in support of the government-backed candidate;
Whereas there was a failure of national and local state-owned
and private electronic media to provide impartial and fair
coverage of, or access to, opposition candidates;
Whereas some election commission members affiliated with
opposition candidates were dismissed from their duties
just prior to election day;
Whereas there was collaboration with a foreign government
to allow a foreign President to appear in Ukraine and express
his opinions on one of the candidates just days before
election day, in an effort to influence the vote, and
a military parade, which was held in Kyiv 3 days prior
to the election, was clearly an effort to intimidate voters;
and
Whereas in the first round of the Presidential election in
Ukraine that occurred on October 31, 2004, international
observers noted fraud and other significant problems, including badly maintained voter lists, which resulted in
people being denied their right to vote, as well as many
additional names on voter rolls for which no accounting
could be made, prevalent interference by unauthorized
persons into the electoral process, and credible reports of
busing of voters among oblasts and polling stations for
the purpose of multiple voting: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate –
- acknowledges and welcomes the strong relationship formed between the United States and
Ukraine since the restoration of Ukraine’s independence
in 1991;
- recognizes that a precondition for the full integration of Ukraine into the Western community
of nations, including as an equal member in institutions
such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO), is its establishment of a genuinely
democratic political system;
- expresses its strong and continuing support for the efforts of the Ukrainian people to establish
a full democracy, the rule of law, and respect for
human rights in Ukraine;
- urges the Government of Ukraine to guarantee freedom of association and assembly, including
the right of candidates, members of political parties,
and others to freely assemble, to organize and conduct
public events, and to exercise these and other
rights free from intimidation or harassment by local
or national officials or others acting at their behest;
- urges the Government of Ukraine to meet its Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) commitments on democratic elections
and to address issues previously identified by the Office
of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
(ODIHR) of the OSCE in its final reports on the
2002 parliamentary elections and the 1999 Presidential
elections, such as illegal interference by public
authorities in the campaign and a high degree of
bias in the media;
- urges the Ukrainian authorities to ensure –
- the full transparency of election procedures before, during, and after the second
round of the 2004 Presidential election;
- free access for Ukrainian and international election observers;
- multiparty representation on all election commissions;
- unimpeded access by all parties and candidates to print, radio, television, and Internet
media on a non-discriminatory basis;
- freedom of candidates, members of opposition parties, and independent media organizations from intimidation or harassment by
government officials at all levels, including selective
tax audits and other regulatory procedures,
and in the case of media, license revocations,
and libel suits;
- a transparent process for complaint and appeals through electoral commissions and
within the court system that provides timely
and effective remedies;
- vigorous prosecution of any individual or organization responsible for violations of
election laws or regulations, including the application
of appropriate administrative or criminal
penalties;
- remedies to all improprieties reported in the first round of the Presidential election in
Ukraine, including –
- the replacement at a polling station of any Territorial Election Commission
member found to have engaged in
fraud;
- a complete review of voter lists in each polling station in order to correct inaccuracies;
- equal time on state media andequal access to private media for the two
runoff candidates; and
- immediate prosecution of individuals who have violated the election law;
- further calls upon the Government of Ukraine to guarantee election monitors from the
ODIHR, other participating states of the OSCE,
Ukrainian political parties, representatives of candidates,
nongovernmental organizations, and other
private institutions and organizations, both foreign
and domestic, unobstructed access to all aspects of
the election process, including unimpeded access to
public campaign events, candidates, news media, voting,
and post-election tabulation of results and processing
of election challenges and complaints;
- strongly encourages the President to fully employ the diplomatic and other resources of the
Government of the United States to encourage the
Government of Ukraine to ensure that the election
laws and procedures of Ukraine are faithfully adhered
to by all local and national officials, by others
acting at their behest, and by all candidates and
parties, during and subsequent to the Presidential
campaign and election-day voting;
- strongly encourages the President to clearly communicate to the Government of Ukraine, to all
parties and candidates in Ukraine, and to the people
of Ukraine the high importance attached by the Government
of the United States to this Presidential
campaign as a central factor in determining the future
relationship between the two countries;
- strongly encourages the President to consider visa bans and other targeted sanctions on
those responsible for encouraging or participating in
any efforts to improperly influence the outcome of
the election, whether through direct or indirect involvement;
and
- pledges its enduring support and assistance to the people of Ukraine for the establishment
of a fully free and open democratic system, the creation
of a prosperous free market economy, the establishment
of a secure independence and freedom
from coercion, and Ukraine’s assumption of its
rightful place as a full and equal member of the
Western community of democracies.
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