Press Release
Published on October 16, 2014
Washington, D.C. – Human Rights First today released a blueprint for the U.S. government on how to promote Ukraine’s democracy. The blueprint comes as Ukraine is set to vote in legislative elections next week. It outlines recommendations for the U.S. government to assist Ukraine as it struggles to address a series of challenges, including corruption, hate crime, and the struggle to develop civil society. Human Rights First notes that democracy development and the rule of law must be dealt with simultaneously in Ukraine, where there is conflict in the east, a shaky economy, and energy dependence on a hostile Russia.
“A failure by the U.S. government and Ukraine’s other friends to hold the new government to its full international human rights obligations is ultimately self-defeating. A strong, stable, democratic Ukraine promoting human rights and the rule of law is in the best interests of the European Union, the United States, and the region,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley, author of today’s blueprint. “The United States and other countries should help Ukraine fulfill its human rights obligations. A Ukraine which does not make space for the new politics to breathe is more likely to be unstable, volatile, and at risk of further political convulsions in the form of mass protests.”
The crisis in Ukraine presents the greatest threat to European stability since the end of the Cold War and ranks as a major foreign policy priority for the United States. The country sits at the new fault line between the political east and west, and it represents a key and stark test in the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism, between human rights and repression.
“The European Union and the United States should avoid making Ukraine a ‘Cold War battlefield,’ but rather help Ukraine become a strong vibrant economy and democracy,” said Dooley.
The blueprint recommends a number of steps the U.S. government should take as part of its bilateral and multilateral diplomatic engagement with Ukraine. The State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) should implement these recommendations, and Congress should support their implementation through its funding and oversight functions. The blueprint’s recommendations include:
