But, unexpectedly to all, we have stood up – for the second time
in Ukraine’s modern history – against what a government that has cheated us. And,
just like nine years ago with the Orange Revolution, this movement, known as
EuroMaidan, is targeting the same man was – Viktor Yanukovych.
Back in 2004, he, as a pro-government presidential candidate,
tried to steal the presidential vote, and Ukrainians’ choice for a better
country. But the fraud was obvious. Yanukovych lost that battle, and it still
seems he hasn’t gotten over the humiliation he experienced then. Reports
suggest, that between the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the 2004 elections, Yanukovych
urged then-president Leonid Kuchma to use force against the peaceful protesters
on Independence Square, but that Kuchma was firm in his decision not to spill
blood.
Now it’s Yanukovych who’s in power. And that’s what this second uprising
is all about. Protesters want him out of office. It’s not about European
Integration anymore, and it hasn’t been since the brutal crackdown by police on
peaceful protesters on Nov. 30 that resulted in dozens of injuries.
Now it’s a fight against state-sanctioned intimidation, torture
and murder. It’s about fighting for basic civil liberties and human rights. All
those things that Yanukovych has worked to curtail so that he might become the
dictator he’s long aspired to be.
And it’s the most important fight in Ukraine’s history thus far.
It’s about Dmytro Bulatov, who was found alive after being
kidnapped and held captive for eight days, during which time he was tortured,
crucified and mutilated. The police believe he cut his own ear off. Really. He
should be granted victim status and treated at hospital without wondering
whether authorities will act on the warrant for his arrest and pick him up.
It’s about many other activists who have been abducted or
attacked by Berkut riot policemen, or shot by snipers. They shouldn’t have to
live in fear, worrying that at any moment they could be snatched from the
street and thrown into a van.
It’s about Yanukovych not mentioning a single protest victim in
his address to the nation, but just one name – a policeman who reportedly died
of a heart attack after participating in clashes on Hrushevskoho Street. The
authorities have been mostly closed lipped on the details.
EuroMaidan is about all these things and more. They need to
stop. They must stop. But we know that so long as Yanukovych is in power, it
won’t – we know that under his leadership there will be more atrocities to
come.
What keeps people coming to the center of Kyiv everyday and
every night, where they stand and sleep in freezing temperatures, is hope. We
have hope for a better Ukraine, hope for justice and an end to the impunity
long enjoyed by those in power. And, for some, there is still the hope of
signing the association agreement with the European Union that Yanukovych
spurned back in November – once the president is out of office, of course.
And while Ukrainian protesters are very thankful for the United
States’ and Canada’s decisions to revoke the visas of those believed to have
ordered the bloody crackdowns on demonstrators, there is still more the
democratic world can do. The West can continue to call on President Yanukovych
to stop repressions, demand that the ridiculous charges against Dmytro Bulatov
and other political prisoners are dropped and ask him to start the process of
transition of power and create a coalition government. They can use levers such
as further sanctions targeting him and his family to do so.
The majority of Ukrainians are on EuroMaidan’s side, while
Yanukovych’s supporters won’t even demonstrate without being paid a measly $25.
Those people are poor and demoralized, and while they might not admit it freely
– though some have – a change of the government will do good for them, as well
as for the rest of Ukraine.
EuroMaidan doesn’t need any more deaths; it doesn’t want to see
more disappearances reminiscent of the Pinochet-era in Chile in a modern
Ukraine.
But it also doesn’t need a Ceausescu-type end to Yanukovych.
No. Millions of Ukrainians, who have been fighting for their
dignity for more than 2 months on streets of cities across the country, want a
swift change of power and are ready to guarantee Yanukovych and his family
safety should he step down on his own.
If Maidan wins – and I believe it will – the determined people
of Ukraine will live up to their hopes and work to make the country a role
model of democracy in the region within years. If you’ve been watching, then
you know we can erect barricades within minutes that would be the envy of any
army. Imagine what we are capable of building as a truly democratic led by
someone who cares about us all.
Myroslava Petsa is a
foreign correspondent at Ukraine’s Channel 5.
