U.S. Republican Congressman Christopher Smith of New Jersey has offered the House of Representatives to adopt a resolution on Ukraine containing a demand on Kyiv to release imprisoned former government officials.
“The House of Representatives demands that Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and the Government of Ukraine cease selective prosecutions, free [Ukraine’s former premier] Yulia Tymoshenko and the other senior officials of the previous government currently in detention, and restore their full political and civil rights,” reads the bill posted on the Web site of the Library of Congress.
The congressman believes that Ukraine stands at a critical juncture in its development and the parliamentary elections on October 28, 2012, will play a highly significant role in demonstrating the seriousness of the Ukrainian authorities’ commitment to democracy and respect for human rights and the rule of law.
“Since Viktor Yanukovych became President of Ukraine in February 2010, Ukraine has seen serious setbacks to its democratic development, including the concentration of power in the hands of the president and his Party of Regions,” reads the draft resolution.
According to the resolution, the politically motivated prosecution and imprisonment of Tymoshenko former Interior Minister and opposition leader Yuriy Lutsenko, and former acting Defense Minister Valery Ivaschenko are the manifestation of Ukraine’s democratic backsliding.
The document also calls for denying United States visas to Ukrainian officials involved in serious human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions, or corruption that undermines or injures democratic institutions in Ukraine, including officials responsible for and participating in the selective prosecution and persecution of political opponents.
In May 2012, U.S. Senator James Inhofe submitted to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. Senate a draft resolution calling on the Department of State to institute a visa ban against President Yanukovych, Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka, and other officials responsible for Tymoshenko’s imprisonment.
