Truth about Ukraine should prevail

Oleksandr Shevchenko :
The purpose of this article is to disavow some false allegations, myths and even lies about latest developments in Ukraine as during recent months Russia launched unprecedented international campaign of disinformation to whitewash its brutal interference into internal affairs of Ukraine.
The first false allegation is that the new Ukrainian government is illegitimate.
On February 21, 2014 after 3 months of mass protests and more than 100 victims former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, opposition leaders and foreign mediators signed Agreement on the settlement of crisis in Ukraine. According to the Agreement Parliament of Ukraine adopted Law on restoration of the Constitution of Ukraine of 2004 limiting presidential powers. But President Yanukovych betrayed his obligations and refused to sign it. On February 22 he withdrew himself from performing his constitutional duties and escaped the country to take refuge in Russia.
Under the circumstances the Parliament of Ukraine assumed full political responsibility for the situation in the country. According to the Constitution of Ukraine in case of early termination of powers of the President his functions should be carried out by the Chairman of the Parliament. Early elections of the President were set for May 25, 2014.
On February 27, 2014 the new legitimate Government headed by Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk was formed, while receiving overwhelming support from all major political parties represented in the Parliament In this regard, any statements about coup in Ukraine are absolutely baseless. Parliament acted within legitimate constitutional authorities to restore order and governance. Worth of mentioning are also claims about “fascists in Kyiv”. As noticed by Winston Churchill, “the fascists of the future will be called antifascists”. That is exactly the point when, with Kremlin’s actions extremely resembling Hitler’s anschluss of Austria and occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938 under the pretext of protecting German ethnic minorities and their rights, many orchestrated voices decry “fascists in Kyiv”.
The right of rebellion against tyranny and oppression is inferred in the third paragraph of the preamble to the Universal declaration of human rights. Ukrainian protests embraced all the sections of Ukrainian society. Hundreds of political, human rights and grass-root groups joined peaceful revolution. Right wing groups were just a portion of Maidan’s self-defense forces. As they were prominent in the street clashes, they did not domineered political agenda, subordinating their steps to Maidan’s command and opposition leaders.
In present Government of Ukraine there are only 2 ministers (agrarian policy and ecology) from the right wing “Svoboda” party. It is worth mentioning that in 2012 parliamentary election this party won 10.4% of seats. In comparison, right wing parties in recent years won 26.6% in Switzerland, 20.5% in Austria, 19.1% in Finland, 13.6% in France, 11.7% in Russia. Notably, far right Alliance of European National Movements sided with Kremlin’s action against Ukraine.
According to the UN OHCHR report on the human rights situation in Ukraine of April 15, 2014 based on the results of the mission by Ivan Simonovic, the UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights, “according to all accounts heard by the OHCHR delegation, the fear against the “Right Sector” is disproportionate… there was no confirmed evidence of attacks by the “Right Sector”, including any physical harassment, against minorities”.
Third myth is that so called “referendum” in Crimea legitimizes its annexation by Russia. The best response here is the resolution “Territorial Integrity of Ukraine” adopted by the UN General Assembly on March 27, 2014, whereby 100 countries vowed not to recognize changes in territorial status of Crimea and concluded that the referendum “had no validity”.
Contrary to the Russian mass-media reports that 83% of Crimean population participated in the “referendum” and 97% of them voted to join Russia, actual turnout was around 34% according to Mejlis of Crimean Tatars who boycotted the vote. This data was confirmed by the members of the Russian Presidential Council on Civil Society and Human Rights – estimated 30-50% turnout with only half of the participants opting for Russia.
Also worthless is argument that “referendum” was based on the right of self-determination, as this right applies only for stateless nations, former colonial and indigenous peoples. Russians in Crimea are just an ethnic group. Crimean Tatars (12% of the local population) who are indigenous to this land boycotted the “referendum” as farce organized in just 1 week without proper authorization and regulations, electoral lists, absence of independent observers, and under the barrel of Russian guns.
Ukrainian authorities and international observers, including several OSCE missions, were not allowed entering the Russian occupied Crimea. UN special envoy Robert Serry dispatched by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was forced to terminate his peace-making mission and to leave peninsular on March 5.
Not a single case of targeted attacks against ethnic Russians was registered in Crimea. To the contrary, after the occupation there were numerous cases of violence against pro-Ukrainian activists and Crimean Tatars with one of them murdered for publicly expressing his position. Mass media representatives were harassed, beaten and kidnapped in Crimea during the occupation.
On April 17 the Russian President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged that “Crimean self-defense forces were of course backed by Russian servicemen” although previously he denied any Russian military involvement in Crimean events as he currently denies Russian special operation units acting to destabilize Eastern Ukraine. Referendum under the occupation is just a cover-up of the military operation, not a popular vote.
By its involvement in Crimea Russia clearly violated international law. It trampled upon its legal obligations under the UN Charter, the Charter of the Council for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the 1975 Helsinki Accords, the 1991 Belavezha Accord, the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances for Ukraine, the 1997 bilateral Ukraine – Russia Treaty, and renewed lease agreement on the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The Russian Federation is claiming its right for Crimea based on Kosovo precedent. But Kosovo was not occupied by foreign military forces or annexed by a neighboring country.
Kosovo movement for independence was the result of the conflict between Albanians and Serbs since 1989, which included attempts of ethnic cleansing. Nothing like that happened in Crimea. Issue of Kosovo was for a long time discussed in the UN Security Council and the Russian Federation supported or abstained from vetoing resolutions calling Belgrade to remove its military forces from Kosovo. Kosovo independence was announced only in 2008 – almost 20 years after the conflict started and after all the other options were exhausted, as Serbian President Milosevic refused to grand autonomy to the region. So it has nothing to do with President Putin’s blitzkrieg in Crimea, which was already peacefully granted autonomous status within Ukraine.
By the way, Russia as well as Ukraine does not recognize independence of Kosovo. Nevertheless, after actively protesting against Kosovo case, Russia is now using it as justification of its aggression in Crimea.
Rights of Crimean Tatars, which are Ukrainian Muslim minority, are under serious threat in the Russian occupied Crimea. In 1944 these people were deported by Stalin’s regime from their homeland and only after Ukraine’s independence they were encouraged to come back to Crimea. As of 2013 around 266 thousand ethnic Crimean Tatars returned to Crimea, more than 85 thousand land plots were allocated for them, 15 schools and 324 mosques opened. Around 16% of the administrative officers in Crimean local governing bodies were Crimean Tatars. Occupation authorities are determined to silence their voice by repressive measures. Leader of Crimean Tatars Mustafa Dzhemilev was banned from entering Crimea for 5 years. Mejlis was charged with ‘extremism actions’ for peacefully protesting this decision. Member of Mejlis Abdurahman Egiz was beaten by pro-Russian “self-defense” on May 6, 2014.
Ukraine is under attack. Separatist forces guided from Moscow are using terrorist tactics. They take hostages, threaten, attack, detain and kill political opponents, destroy public and private property, escalate hatred and intolerance, and refuse any sound solution in the real interest of local community and the country.
Ukraine voluntarily surrendered its world third biggest nuclear weapon arsenal while receiving assurances from the US, UK and Russian Federation on its territorial integrity and refraining from the threat or use of force against Ukraine. Transgression of these obligations by the Russian Federation and failure of the international community to effectively counteract brutal undeterred voluntarism on behalf of the nuclear armed state is sending alarm signals to the smaller nations. It seriously threatens non-proliferation regime and the efficacy of international structures, including UN and the OSCE.
Let’s face the truth and not rationalize aggressor.
We should not be distracted by recent statement of the President Putin about withdrawal of Russian troops from eastern borders of Ukraine. Such statements have been made before without actual changes in the real situation on the ground.
International community already reacted with a number of sanctions against the Russian Federation. Russian membership in G8 was suspended and right of vote in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was frozen. US, EU, Japan and Canada imposed sanctions against Russian officials and businesses instrumental in aggression against Ukraine.
We are grateful to our friends and supporters around the world.
Ukraine wants peace, not war. But it’s ready to defend itself even in the face of the nuclear armed power which brutally trampled upon its bilateral and international obligations. Even moral support would suffice.
Let’s stay united for world peace, justice and decent future for all. Let’s stand united for Ukraine.